We came to Tacna Yesterday. Today we went to Arica, Chile. They are a little over an hour apart. Between the two and pretty much everywhere around Tacna is a desert. It’s all empty adobe colored earth. No people or structures exist in the wastes. Tacna is some mish mash of border town and tourist trap for Chileans looking for a favorable exchange rate. There isn’t a lot here to speak of. We’ve only spent a few hours looking around. Good food has yet to be found. Arica is on the coast and has a port facility. That’s interesting but they also have a ship breaking business. Jill and I watched from afar as the tiny sparks of welding torches cut holes in the sides like lead cutter ants dismembering a branch. The mighty ships witness their own destruction silently.
4/24/2015 Tacna, Peru
Chile let us come and go. I have a McFlurry receipt to show we were there. Peru granted us another 90 days without question. Now we are back in Tacna packed for tomorrow’s long journey back to Arequipa. We have a pile of dirty laundry to deal with because Tacna is unaccustomed to same day service. We grumble over some things and deal with others. Seeing the ocean was the highlight of this necessary journey. The pacific still sparkles under the afternoon sun and still fills me with a comforting empty silence.