Today we are sailing off the northern coast of Chile. Chile is sometimes called "the shoestring country" because it is a long, narrow country. In fact, it is 2700 miles long and at its widest part only 150 miles wide. There are several active volcanoes in Chile and it has quite a few earthquakes, including one of the largest ever recorded.
The coastal areas of Peru and Chile are so arid and barren because of the Humbolt Current, so I better tell you what that is. It is a cold, low salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. This cooler water from Antarctica also cools the air along the coast which is not conductive to producing precipitation, although there are clouds and fog sometimes. The cooler water is good for fish, and as a result, 20% of the world's fish catch comes from Chile and Peru. Sea bass is one of our favorites and it comes from offshore Chile.Today was are sailing along the north coast of Chile. The Atacama desert is a 600 mile long strip running from about the Peru/Chile border southward in Chile. It is the driest desert in the world and some weather stations there have NEVER reported any rain. I have seen it from the air many times when I flew trips from DFW to Santiago, Chile. The desert is composed mostly of salt basins, sand, and lava. Tomorrow we will be docking at the port for Antofagasta, Chile, which is in this desert region. The largest open pit copper mine in the world is located near here. The world's largest supply of "natural" sodium nitrate was mined in this area until about 1940. Now there are over 170 abandoned nitrate mining towns. Because of its high altitude, nearly non-existent clouds, dry air, lack of light pollution and radio interference from the widely spaced cities, the Atacama desert is the world's best place for Observatories to study space. A new radio astronomy telescope, called ALMA, was just opened in October 2011.
It is a gorgeous day at sea today. Ocean is smooth, as had been the usual for our Pacific cruising, and it is mostly sunny with 74F outside. I went to an informative lecture by Terry Breen this morning on Chile. Some of her info I incorporated in this posting. I find South America fascinating and hope you do to.
