The driest place in the world. A contender, anyway

Trip Start Sep 28, 2004
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Trip End Nov 07, 2004


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Flag of Chile  ,
Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Another set of travel connections that could alternately be described as insanely tight (both in the sense of no room for error, and of 'phat') and simply perfect (defined as the minimum percentage of time spent waiting for modes of conveyance) found me back in Santiago for one night (if you can call three hours of sleep a night).

This morning I hopped a plane the 2000-some km to Arica, at the northern extreme of Chile, about 30 km from the Peruvian border. Arica lies on the coastal edge of the Atacama desert, which is literally the driest place on earth.

I got to chatting with a couple of high-school girls today, and happened to mention that it rains all the time where I'm from. They said it rains once or twice a year here in Arica, and everybody comes out and dances in the streets.

In addition to be incredibly dry, Arica is a heck of a lot closer to the Equator than Santiago, and thus a whole lot warmer and more UV-rific. Even the SPF 30 sunscreen I slathered over my body was barely sufficient to protect my during a walk from 4 to 6, when I would expect the intensity to be dropping.
Arica hotels

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