Arica

I am so very happy to be in Chile. So is Rusty. 

I’ll walk you through the process but let me warn you it was not easy to get Rusty out of Peru and into Chile. We did it with a huge sense of foreboding on my part. This border had me worried as I got up, shaved, put on long pants and a clean shirt. We left the campground in Tacna Peru at 8:45am and got on the road to the border 45 minutes away. 

What we did not do in Tacna, the last town in Peru, was to go to the SENASA (agriculture) office to get Rusty checked out. That became a problem. 

The road to the border ran through Tacna’s famous olive groves. They weren’t at all inviting to a passing tourist. We did see plenty of poverty housing alongside the straight road. 

Originally we had planned to stop maybe and buy some olives after a Colombian olive grower had told us about the olives in this region, unique to South America. As it was we just wanted to get the border over and done with. 

The border controls are located in both countries in both directions so you drive across the line and do your exit and entry papers in one place. Brilliant…except…

On the Chilean side there is no SENASA agriculture office. I went to the Chilean SAG office and the agriculture lady said I needed to go back to Peru and get Rusty’s exit papers.

Then you pass the refugees sitting in the border between the two countries. I have no idea who they are, Venezuelans usually, or what will happen to them. Seeking a better life. 

Once the SENASA guy understood what I needed he looked over my papers. Thank god I speak Spanish and could understand him. 

“There’s a problem,” he said. He pointed to Rusty’s vaccination card from Panama. None of his shots, rabies, parvo, or hepatitis was signed next to the vet’s stamp. He looked at me, handed me a pen and looked out of the window. I got to work and amazingly everything suddenly worked out. He typed out Rusty’s exit papers from Peru to let him into Chile. 

I went to the police and explained I needed to cut back to Chile as I was still leaving Peru. Peruvian police are said to be difficult and corrupt but I’ve found them to be nothing but nice and helpful all the way and right here they got me to the short cut gate and the security guy opened it and off I went back to Chile. 

Back past the refugees huddling in no man’s land. The point where the pavement changes color is where Peru ends and Chile begins: 

I took Rusty to the SAG agriculture office and the ladies came out to meet us and made a huge fuss of the old boy, petting him and taking him into the office from his refuge in the shade. 

No more photos but we stood in line after Rusty was checked in. We checked out of Peru immigration and the English speaking Chilean migration officer stamped us in while telling us how much he loved Miami on his recent vacation. Then we stamped GANNET2’s import permit out of Peru and then went to the nice lady at the Chilean customs and she did our paperwork. Then I went to get GANNET2 with Rusty resting under the rooftop air conditioning and we drove through for inspection. Meanwhile Layne had discovered. The agriculture inspector had gone to school at Champaign-Urbana and they were busy talking about the merits of Illinois. With many apologies he went through our fruits and vegetables and his customs colleague peered into the van. We got two more stamps and we were free to go. At the gate the last inspector checked all our stamps and wished  us a pleasant stay in Chile. Three and a half hours from start to finish to leave Peru and enter Chile.  

Check out this highway from the border to Arica, twenty minutes away. We knew Chile has good roads but this was heaven. 

And a giant bicycle path. A far cry from Peru’s infrastructure. Cars passed and used their turn signals as they changed lanes. No impatience, no horns and traffic lights that work and traffic circles where everyone obeys the rules of the road. It was amazing. 

And there was the Pacific Ocean glittering in the afternoon sun. And here’s a weird thing: Chile is two hours ahead of Peru. Peru is on Central Time like every other country we’ve driven through and Chile is on Atlantic Time. So we left Peru at 1pm and entered Chile at 3pm. That was weird. 

Walmart we last saw in Guatemala and here we saw their symbol again as they own the Lider (pronounced leader) chain of stores.  We didn’t shop there as the Jumbo was easier to get to but let me tell you: shopping in Arica was like being in a US supermarket. Arica is a tax free zone so prices were quite reasonable but the range of choices was overwhelming. No beggars outside, no trash, patient drivers negotiating the parking lot. I was in heaven even though Layne was overwhelmed by the shelves groaning with choices. 

Rusty got his run on the beach. 

The locals smiled, the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze off the water. 

He deserved it: 

The Jumbo parking lot charged us $3:50 for a couple of hours. We have no pesos as our ATM card didn’t work but we are getting by with a credit card and a full tank of four dollar gas from Peru. Gas here is said to be six dollars a gallon so we shall see; Chile is known to be expensive but I don’t care. I like the order and lack of chaos here. 

We found a campground outside town with hot showers even though it’s not too scenic. The coast road to the rest of Chile is still closed by a landslide with no opening date yet. 

Our home for a bit. We drank beer with our German friends and ruminated on the road we have driven. Quite an achievement.