After a great visit in Arica it was time to head back to Iquique. We took the same route back with a couple of small detours to check out sights we did not see on the way down.
Today’s first stop was a newer set of sculptures in the middle of the desert, about thirty minutes from Arica. These works were funded by the National Council for Culture and Arts, and were unveiled in 1997 to commemorate the first cultures to settle in the area. The two taller pieces are called The Origin of the Race. The smaller dome shape piece is called The Ancestors. The day we visited there was a school group filming a video by the sculptures. The bears were hilarious.
Not far down the road we took a small detour to the tiny fishing village of Caleta Camerones. The coastline here was one of the most beautiful I had seen on the trip and we were able to see the Monument Replica Gigante de Momia Chinchorro, which is considered to be the guardian of the mummy archaeological sites.
Chinchorro mummy statues on the road to Caleta Camarones 
The Guardian 
Fishing Village 
The rest of the day was spent driving back to Iquique. In an earlier post I mentioned the memorials that are left along the road for traffic deaths. The insane number of memorials caught our attention on this drive so we took pictures of them along the way. We have pictures of at least 125 memorials, and I would estimate we captured maybe 25% of the total. It didn’t make sense there would be that many memorials along such a nice road, but when we asked a Chilean about the situation they indicated the previous road was very dangerous and is now much safer. Here is a sampling of the memorials.
There were also shells of cars and trucks along the side of the road, which was definitely attention-getting. It’s not clear if these are left as memorials, or if it’s just too much of a hassle to haul them away. Notable either way, and sends a clear message to drivers as they go by.
We had a fantastic view driving back into Iquique.
We picked up my credit card at the grocery store, had dinner, and settled in for the night at a different Airbnb.
More fun tomorrow.
Will