Day 422 - 425 - Caldera, Chile
Day 422
As we head to the tip of South America (a very long way to go), we wanted to explore one of Chile’s many well known observatories. One of the most famous is in Vicuña, deep in the Atacama Desert. But that’s an almost 12 hour drive so we stopped for Thanksgiving in the small fishing village of Caldera. No Turkey dinner here! But the fish is spectacular and we tried our hand with the Chilean version of chicken fajitas! A very tasty cross between Mexican-American fajitas and Chinese stir fry. In Peru they called it chaufe.
Day 425
Before departing the sleepy town of Caldera, we found the location of the first train to depart South America. Created by American entrepreneur William (Guillermo) Wheelwright, the train was built to carry ore from the Chanarcillo mine for export from the harbor. The original depot is long gone, but locals are still proud and working to develop it into a tourist destination with this museum.
