Written by: Gary Jakacky

Dates: January/February 1999

Email: nagaisan@hotmail.com

Exchange Rate: $1=3.2 Nuevo Soles=500 Chilean Pesos

Weather: Dry and occasionally drier

Terrain: Rolling coastal hills, occasional inland desert regions. Dry, scrubby terrain in places. Often massive sandy hills with subtle desert colors of tan, brown, red, yellow.

Trip Rating: 7

Route: Mostly the Pan Am highway from Northern Peru through the Atacama desert of Northern Chile to La Serena. Occasional side trips to the mountains. I rode with great resolution, but not great speed, and made it from Quito Ecuador to La Serena, Chile in 2 months.

Trip Essentials: Have a good supply of WD40 and other lubricants as the dry and dusty conditions will wear and tear your chain, cogs, and derailleurs. Bike shops are fairly well distributed through the region.

Trip Comments: This is mean to be a guide to the Atacama desert though I will toss in comments about the Peruvian coast as well. From southern Ecuador to Copiapo the cyclist will find windy usually coastal riding. The PanAm is the only major North/south route through this region. Road surfaces are excellent in Peru In Southern Ecuador there is a lot of construction (on the route to the crossing at Macara, which I recommend) with dozens of miles of gravel and dirt road. The Chile PanAm is often surprisingly bumpy. Despite what some cyclists will tell you or you read in Lonely Planet, this coastal section is not boring. The Peru portions features coastal, sandy dunes with frequent rough and lofty stretches, such as south of Lima. Most coastal towns in the region are nondescript (EXCEPTION: Huanchaco, near Trujillo) but offer hostels and cheap food. Sunsets are spectacular and the skies are clear at night. Windblown sand is annoying in some places but not many. Many towns have small bike shops with basic parts and tires, both 27" and 700mm tires from Hindustan! While some areas have ´dunes´most areas have a special type of dune called a ´barchan´, a croissant shaped dune common in deserts with little sand and steady winds from one direction. Also keep and eye out for ´dust devils´, mini tornadoes that lift dust and sand into a funnel and meander across the open spaces, staying intact for many minutes. Pay particular attention to the subtle color changes in the sand: everything from Pink to brown to ruddy, bloody red, to silver. Finally, enjoy the camaraderie of the road here. Trucks, buses, cars, and motorcycles honk rhythmically, wave, flash their lights, often stop and offer water, or mangoes, and in general admire you for your efforts cycling in this challenging region. Don´t listen to the whiners who say traffic doesn´t care about cyclists.

==========Atacama Desert Guide========================

Cross on the PanAm into Chile at Challacuta is simple and quick, but the Peruvian anti-drug police here are sinister and corrupt, and annoying. Get your paperwork done and move on to Arica. ARICA: Major city, all services. A 200 KM paved road from here takes you up to Tuembo Quemado pass, at 4660 meters a lofty summit. If you head up that way, stock up on food and water at Poconchile at the 37 KM mark. After that you have a 50 km climb to a small cafe restaurant (Pueblo de Mailkyu). After this services are fairly frequent. South of Arica are tow BIG Canyons. The first one, Chaca Khan as I call it, is 45 Km south of Arica or 2025 Km mark on the highway. Food and water are available here. No sooner do you climb out of this canyon you enter the Canyon de Camarones in a 21 kilometer downhill, with food and water at the 1970 Km mark. This town is Cuya. I bought food and water here and wild camped in the river basin east of the town to get a start up the other side of canyon wall. The climb begins in earnest as you cross a bridge near a petroglyph. You reach the top at the 1931 Km mark where food and water are available. From here there are no services until 1887 Km, where there is a turnoff for the coastal town of Pisagua. The folks here will let you camp nearby their buildings if ay want. (I might add before you get here you cross two rivers at kms 1910 and 1896. They had water in them when I was there but perhaps not all the time). At the 1840 km mark is the town of Huara, with food, water and lodging. At 1814 KM is the turnoff for Iquique, the mining town of Humberstone. **I turned off for Iquique here. No services available until just before Iquique. The road is narrow and somewhat poor, with a graveled shoulder. Watch out for the RR tracks on the hill down to Iquique. The road from Iquique to Antofogasta has regularly spaced services and no need to be detailed. Wild camping places are everywhere on this coastal route. Beautiful beaches alternate with savage headlands. Antofogasta is a major city with all services. **A short spur from Antofogasta returns you to the PanAm. Truck stops here provide food, water, and good maps for local road info. At Kms 1315, 1281, 1178, 1148, 1100, and 1031 are restaurants and water. Note that 100 KM gap between one pair of services. It is best to stock up at the 1281 KM mark with food, bread, and water and get a head start on the way to your next service point. I got about halfway late in the afternoon, pushed by strong tailwinds. The road then returns to the coast at Chañaral. The desert is beginning to lose its grip as you see scrubby growth. From Chañaral to Copiapo, where the desert ends´, services are fairly well distributed and not much of a problem. Copiapo is a BEAUTIFUL city with a lovely plaza and a great bike shop, Biman. Ask at the info center on the Plaza, they will direct you to it. South of Copiapo to La Serena, again, services are fairly frequent and well spaced, even though the terrain remains quite dry.

=================SUMMARY=========================
Just for review and to make it easy to jot down for cyclists reading this, here are the food and water points and highway KM signposts.

ARICA 2070 KM
Chaca-Khan 2025 KM
Camarones/Cuya 1970 KM
Hilltop 1931 KM
Oasis 1887 KM
Huara 1840 KM
Humberstone 1814 KM

Iquique to Antofogasta no problem. Rejoin Panam...