The BBs flew around the room ricocheting off one wall then the other. Everyone dived for cover under anything they could find. Bill and Randy ended up under the desk. When the BBs ultimately hit the floor pandemonium broke lose. The Captain yelled at the guard and grabbed the gun. Then he turned on Bill who was crawling out from under the desk. Why had he given it to the guard? Why did he have it? Was everyone crazy?
Things finally settled down and the Captain took the gun outside to try it. Eventually the gun was given back, the salad was eaten and we were given our Tourist Cards. The Tourist Cards were post cards of Chile scenery. Really nice.
I do believe we left a lasting impression at the Chile border. After the fact it is kind of funny. Crazy gringos!
From there we drove a few miles to Arica to spend the night in a parking lot on the water front.
Before settling in for the night we went to a market to replenish. Again no milk so we had to buy soda pop, even the kids wanted milk. A loaf of bread cost $1.20 US a loaf! We also ate out at a restaurant next to where we were parked. Spent $15 US on dinner.
We were parked so close to the ocean we got the spray from a couple of waves that were breaking on the rocks next to us.
Another aside - at that time gas per gallon in Ecuador was 20 cents, in Peru 50 cents and in Chile 95 cents.
The next morning we found a phone and made a call to Los Angeles to my Mom. Let her know we were still alive and kicking and where we were. John Mc also called his family.
We were getting far enough south for the weather to be changing. It was starting to get quite a bit cooler as fall was well on its way in this hemisphere. We also crossed into another time zone when we entered Chile.
We left Arica around noon to continue South.
The Pan American Highway through Chile was excellent. Wider, straighter and smoother. We thought Peru was devoid of scenery - compared to this section of Chile it was paradise. We soon were driving through the Atacama Desert. This was the most barren land I had ever seen - there weren't even any bushes let alone trees. The kids played “I see” looking for any thing other than dirt. If they saw a rock bigger than 12 inches everyone got excited. It reminded me of what the Mojave Desert (Arizona/California) would look like if it was plowed up and turned under. I can’t begin to describe the nothingness of it.
As the day progressed it got cooler and foggy. Soon it was so foggy Bill couldn’t see the road out the window. Randy got out with a lantern and walked in front of us so we wouldn’t stray off the pavement. Finally we came to a village/truck stop and pulled off to spend the night amongst the 18 wheelers.
Bill, John Mc and Randy got out to check the tires and trailer a nightly ritual. They also went into the little store there to look around. While in there a girl probably in her late teens started following Randy around. She had long straight brown hair and was dressed in tight beige jeans and a very tight t-shirt that accentuated her charms. When they came back outside and she saw the motorhome she really got interested in him. She was calling him “Rubio” loosely translated as “Blondie” and had her hands all over him. She was trying to talk him into letting her get into the motorhome as she wanted a ride out of there. By now the little kids were outside too and they were enjoying Randy’s discomfort. He couldn’t shake her. Even when he came inside she kept coming up to the door and coaxing him to talk to her.
Then a trucker came out of the building and started for his rig. As she caught sight of him she left our door and ran after him. They talked for a bit and she climbed in the passenger seat, Randy quickly forgotten. The kids didn’t forget though and for a few days got a kick out of calling Randy “Oh, Rubio” and making kissing sounds.
Early start the next morning. Again there was no scenery to speak of. Along the way we passed an older couple from Michigan who was driving a Mini-motorhome. They were on their way back to the U.S. after spending about 10 months driving in South America. They were very positive about all the places they had been, but liked Argentina the best. We also met a Mexican man driving a pickup with a camper and an Argentine in a van, both on their way south.
Every once in a while we would see a nitrate plant in the distance with a few buildings scattered around it. Some would be deserted - just ghost towns.
We stopped at a truck stop/all night station again. The nights were starting to get pretty cool.
Sunday we had a long day, one of the longest - 475 miles. But the road was good and there still was nothing to see to slow us down. Things were beginning to get a little greener though. We even saw some llamas in a pen on a small farm. We made three stops for gas during the day (we got about 6 miles to the gallon) one being in La Serena, where there was a monument to a race driver, Hector Supici-Cedes (sp?) who was killed there. The race in 1952 was from Buenos Aires to Caracas and back.
We spent the night at a check point in Quebrada Seca. The guards in Chile are the nicest we have run into and they seem the most professional
Paul was quiet all day which is very unusual for him. He had a cold and probably just needed a day for his batteries to charge.
We were really making a run for it now, as I mentioned before we had to cross the Andes before the snow closed the road.
The next day Paul was his old self out at every stop finding someone to talk to. All the kids were learning Spanish by leaps and bounds.
We continued driving south filling the gas and water tanks at Los Vilos. We had originally planned on going to Santiago but we ended up turning east towards Argentina before reaching it.
The scenery now was beautiful. The trees were ablaze with their fall colors and the sky a bright clear blue and as a backdrop the spectacular Andes. The towns, businesses and homes were more substantial. Not as poor and run down as in Peru and northern Chile (where the people lived in hovels with TV antennas on the roofs.)
We were gaining altitude pretty fast. Well the altitude was going up fast. We were going up pretty slow. At least the weather was cool so the motorhome didn’t heat up.
We passed through Los Andes a very pretty town that is a ski resort.
The road continued to be good - wide and paved. The only strange thing for us - the curves weren’t banked and there were no guard rails. Soon we were well into the mountains and the road became a series of hairpin turns. Seemed like the trailer was still coming around the last curve and the motorhome was starting into the next. One curve we would be on the outside, looking straight down, the next we would be on the inside -the comfortable side.
Looking back we could see the road winding below us. We had climbed over 7000 feet since turning east. We were over 10,000 feet high when we reached the Chile border - the portal of the train tunnel in front of us. .
We stopped and had all of our papers checked and paid the $7US tunnel toll. Now we would have to wait while they checked to see when we could enter the tunnel. At this point the road shares the narrow tunnel that’s about a mile long with the railroad tracks. It could be used for trains or motorized vehicles but not both at the same time and it was one-way. There was pavement on either side of the tracks.
While we waited a couple of cars pulled up behind us. The, for lack of a better word, keeper of the tunnel checked with the other side there was a truck in the tunnel heading our way. When he cleared we would be permitted to enter.
We watched him come out, just barely clearing the upper walls of the tunnel, oh well, if he fit we would.
We got the go ahead and entered. It was pitch black. We could only see the few feet of the walls and ceiling our headlights illuminated. Creeping along the walls in front of us was our big boxy shadow. This was caused by the headlights of the cars behind us. I tend to be claustrophobic and this whole experience was not appreciated by me but the only other way over the mountains was a little dirt road.
We made it through with no problems. I even kept breathing. We entered Argentina at 6:30 p.m. April 18th 1978.
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Passing into Chile was the most through border crossing we experienced. The guards were very sharply dressed and extremely polite and efficient.
But we did have a few small problems.
During the inspection of the interior of the motorhome our refrigerator was checked and in it was lettuce, tomatoes and green peppers. You can’t bring any fresh fruit or vegetables into Chile so we were told we would have to eat them or throw them away. So I fixed a big delicious salad for lunch.
Also while searching the guard found one of the realistic looking black plastic BB guns (I mentioned them earlier - while we were in Mexico City). Any way they look pretty real so the guard was a little concerned. He asked to see it and asked if we had any real guns and Bill said no - just the BB guns. The one they had found and one that looked like an automatic machine gun. He wanted to see it too so Bill dug it out of the closet. When the guard saw it he was amazed. He thought it looked like a real machine gun and asked Bill to demonstrate it
They went outside and Bill shot it off out into the desert. Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt! Brrrrrrrrrttttttttttt. It was an automatic so 50 or so BBs shot into the air.
WOW! The guard had to try it. Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt. He said he wanted to take it inside to show to his Captain. Bill and Randy followed him into the building and into a 15 x 15 room with concrete block walls.
Before Bill could say anything the guard said, “Look Capitan, look at this gun.”
And then he pulled the trigger - Brrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt - INSIDE A CONCRETE ROOM.
But we did have a few small problems.
During the inspection of the interior of the motorhome our refrigerator was checked and in it was lettuce, tomatoes and green peppers. You can’t bring any fresh fruit or vegetables into Chile so we were told we would have to eat them or throw them away. So I fixed a big delicious salad for lunch.
Also while searching the guard found one of the realistic looking black plastic BB guns (I mentioned them earlier - while we were in Mexico City). Any way they look pretty real so the guard was a little concerned. He asked to see it and asked if we had any real guns and Bill said no - just the BB guns. The one they had found and one that looked like an automatic machine gun. He wanted to see it too so Bill dug it out of the closet. When the guard saw it he was amazed. He thought it looked like a real machine gun and asked Bill to demonstrate it
They went outside and Bill shot it off out into the desert. Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt! Brrrrrrrrrttttttttttt. It was an automatic so 50 or so BBs shot into the air.
WOW! The guard had to try it. Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt. He said he wanted to take it inside to show to his Captain. Bill and Randy followed him into the building and into a 15 x 15 room with concrete block walls.
Before Bill could say anything the guard said, “Look Capitan, look at this gun.”
And then he pulled the trigger - Brrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt Brrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt - INSIDE A CONCRETE ROOM.
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Excitement Crossing the Border from Peru into Chile
