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Postcards from:
Big Bear Lake USA
San Jose Costa Rica
Granada Nicaragua
Managua Nicaragua
San Salvador ElSalvador
Tegucigalpa Honduras
San Pedro Sula Honduras
Copan Ruinas Honduras
La Ceiba Honduras
Utila Island Honduras
La Ceiba Honduras
San Pedro Sula Honduras
Belmopan Belize
Belize City Belize
Orange Walk Belize
Lamanai
Mayan Ruins
Panama City Panama
Bogata Colombia
Cali Colombia
Popayan Colombia
Ipiales Colombia
Quito Ecuador
Galapagos Is. Ecuador
Puerto Ayoro Galapagos
Guayaquil Ecuador
Cuenca Ecuador
Tumbes Peru
Lima Peru
Nazca Peru
Cuzco Peru
Ollantaytambo Peru
Machu Picchu Peru
Machu Picchu Photos
Cuzco Again
Lake Titicaca Peru
Lake Titicaca Photos
Copacabana Bolivia
La Paz Bolivia
Arica Chile
Iquique Chile
Antofagasta Chile
Santiago Chile 1
Valparaiso Chile
Santiago Chile 2
Easter Island Chile
Santiago Chile 3
Chillan Chile
Valdivia Chile
Puerto Montt Chile
Castro Chile
Chaiten Chile
Coyhaique Chile
Puerto Chacabuco Chile
Coyhaique Chile
Punta Arenas Chile
Puerto Natales Chile
Punta Arenas Chile
Puerto Williams Chile
Ushuaia Argentina
Buenos Aires Argentina
Puerto Iguazu Argentina
Montevideo Uruguay
Colonia Uraguay
Caracas Venezuela
Ciudad Bolivar Venezuela
Puerto Ordaz Venezuela
Porlamar Venezuela
PortOSpain Trinidad
Georgetown Guyana
Corriverton Guyana
Paramaribo Suriname
Cayenne French Guiana
Pointa A Pitre Guadaloupe
Gosier Guadeloupe
Dominican Republic
Miami Florida
Back Home in California
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off my room in the Del Sur Apart
Hotel; part of the fishing fleet can be seen in the background.
Antofagasta Chile: Beach home communities like this one could be seen at a
number of places along the highway running by the ocean. I could see no
utilities, but many water tanks on top of towers adjacent to individual
houses. I also saw a few TV antennas, though I have no idea how the powered
the sets.
Antofagasta Chile: Odd rock formations like this occurred at the water's
edge.
Antofagasta Chile: Odd rock formations like this occurred at the water's
edge.
Antofagasta Chile: Odd rock formations like this occurred at the water's
edge.
Antofagasta Chile: Beach home communities like this one could be seen at a
number of places along the highway running by the ocean. I could see no
utilities, but many water tanks on top of towers adjacent to individual
houses. I also saw a few TV antennas, though I have no idea how the powered
the sets.
Antofagasta Chile: Our bus made a brief stop here in Tokopilla, so I snapped
a couple pictures.
Antofagasta Chile: Our bus made a brief stop here in Tokopilla, so I snapped
a couple pictures.
Antofagasta Chile: Busy pedestrian mall around noon Friday.
Antofagasta Chile: Mural on the right side of the entrance to the
Panamericana Hotel where I spent two nights.
Antofagasta Chile: Papa Noel selling candy to the kids! At first I thought
the little girl was bribing old St. Nick. Then I saw him send the kid back
to her mother for more money.
Antofagasta Chile: Papa Noel selling candy to the kids! At first I thought
the little girl was bribing old St. Nick. Then I saw him send the kid back
to her mother for more money.
Antofagasta Chile: Sculpture monument in the plaza in front of the modern
city hall.
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  15-19
December 2005
Greetings from
Antofagasta Chile,
Antofagasta
Chile is a little over 400 kilometers south of Iquique through more sand
dunes that end at the Pacific Ocean waters edge. During the seven hour,
otherwise uneventful trip a strange looking chubby tower appeared along
the road in the distance. Accustomed to every manner of archaeological
remnant from ancient civilizations, few surprise me anymore. This one
however, seemed oddly proportioned to be a watch tower. The haze obscured
the color and surface details, but as we got closer it became clear the
smooth surface and red colors were unlikely to have been created by an
ancient civilization. Invisible for the past ten kilometers, finally
visible lighter bands around the top and bottom of the tower suggested a
squat cylinder of modern origin. Mystified, we passed the strange artifact
sitting a hundred meters off the highway and only then on the side
invisible to traffic coming from our direction did the script in bold
white letters come into view: "Coca Cola!"
Arriving in Antofagasta, the bus dropped us near the Plaza de Armas a
couple blocks from the harbor. Antofagasta failed to excite me much. The
city has a single shopping mall full of uninspiring retail outlets
offering a poor selection of goods. The $50 Del Sur Apart Hotel is located
on the waterfront near the docks used by the fishing fleet and became my
first nighter. The odor of fish being processed makes it easy to find the
place in the dark. The second night a small party insisted their disc
jockey turn the volume up high enough so everyone in adjacent rooms could
appreciate the full force of the fierce vibrations coming through the
walls. At two AM I requested a change in venue away from the fiesta and
after much protesting the night clerk moved me into an unoccupied
suite. The next day I learned the five star Pan-American had a special $58
weekend rate and I gleefully moved. The timing worked out fine with
my flight to Santiago the following Monday morning.
Peace,
Fred L Bellomy
Antofagasta Chile: Another view of the boat harbor with the Apart Hotel Sur
in the upper right corner of the picture.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off my room in the Del Sur Apart
Hotel; part of the fishing fleet can be seen in the background.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat harbor near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here. Red things make better pictures.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat dock area near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here.
Antofagasta Chile: The clock tower in the Plaza de Armas.
Antofagasta Chile: Busy pedestrian mall around noon Friday.
Antofagasta Chile: Political mural on a building in the outskirts of the
city.
Antofagasta Chile: Entrance to the Panamericana Hotel where I spent two
nights.
Antofagasta Chile: Left half of a mural in the departure lounge of the
Antofagasta Airport.
Antofagasta Chile: Left half of a mural in the departure lounge of the
Antofagasta Airport.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the pool area from the balcony off my room in the
Panamericana Hotel.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off the lobby in the Panamericana
Hotel.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the entrance to the
Hotel Antofagasta where I stayed a couple nights while
in the city. The place felt like a college dorm to me and I couldn't wait
for the weekend when the Panamericana Hotel would offer affordable rates!
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Antofagasta Chile: Sculpture monument in the plaza in front of the modern
city hall building. (Photos taken during my two night stay in Antofagasta
Chile on my way to Santiago during December 2005.)
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat harbor near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat harbor near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here.
Antofagasta Chile: Two of the three playful sea lions loitering near the
fish market.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat dock area near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off my room in the Del Sur Apart
Hotel.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the boat dock area near the Del Sur Apart Hotel
where I spent two nights while here.
Antofagasta Chile: Sculpture in the middle of the pedestrian mall.
Antofagasta Chile: The clock tower in the Plaza de Armas.
Antofagasta Chile: Cathedral on one side of the Plaza de Armas.
Antofagasta Chile: Sculpture in the Plaza de Armas.
Antofagasta Chile: Cathedral on one side of the Plaza de Armas.
Antofagasta Chile: Sculptural monument near a military compound. Note the
quote by Simon Bolivar: "America is my father."
Antofagasta Chile: Mural on the left side of the entrance to the
Panamericana Hotel where I spent two nights.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off the lobby in the Panamericana
Hotel.
Antofagasta Chile: View of the surf at low tide from the balcony off my room
in the Panamericana Hotel.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off my room in the Panamericana
Hotel; the day I arrived a crew of workers was steam cleaning the rock
formations seen here.
Antofagasta Chile: View from the balcony off the lobby in the Panamericana
Hotel.
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