Let’s Fly…

Posted on by Valneufeld
The flight up the northern coast of Chile begins

We have not yet received our clearance to leave Chile and so to begin the ferry trip we will start flying north up the coast of Chile today.

Our route for today

One last shot of some Chilean graffiti in Valparaiso.

I was curious about so much graffiti covering most walls in these two cities. I read that Santiago is a place with some of the most diverse graffiti in the world. Graffiti has been a part of Chilean identity since the 70’s. On September 11, 1973 there was a violent battle that overthrew the elected Marxist government and the country suffered 16 years under the dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet. The graffiti was a way the people could express themselves and this way of self expression has continued

Departing Santiago en route to Antofagasta
Farming land and wineries around Santiago. Chile has a long history of wine production dating back to the 16th century. Chile is the 5th largest wine producer in the world.
The landscape north along the remarkable Andes Mountains. The Andes run the entire western Coast of South America from Columbia in the north through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina and ending at the Terra del Fuego at the southern most tip
One of the mines we flew over. Mining is one of the pillars of the Chilean economy. Most of the mining is concentrated in the Norte Grande region spanning most of the Atacama Desert. The mining includes copper, gold, silver, molybdenum,iron and coal
Another mine
Atacama Desert. This Desert
spans 600-700 miles from the north to south of Chile.
Clouds from the ocean back right up against the desert. I read that the South Pacific high pressure cell makes it one of the driest places in the world. This condition produces fog and stratus clouds but no rain. The Atacama receives almost no water from precipitation with some parts of the region having not received rain for centuries.
It is really hard to see in this picture- but way in the mountains there is a light shining which I believe is a telescope. The worlds largest telescope is in this desert
The Chilean coast begins to clear of clouds
Rugged beautiful coast
This coastline reminds me of the Namibian coast. Another coastline along the massive Namibian Desert. That coast was called Skeleton Coast because of the ships that crashed there and many perished because of the desolate land they encountered. I wonder the shipping history along this coastline as before the Panama Canal – ships would sail all along this coastline to the rugged Chilean tip to get from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean
Port just outside Antofagasta
Desert by the airport
Landing at Antofagasta
Fuelling the aircraft in preparation for our next flight which will be on Tuesday. We are able to leave Chile on Wednesday so while wait we will stay in this region. It was a quiet airport today – we were told that tomorrow will be very busy with 35 flights coming in – 90% flights for the mine.

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