I knew very little about Arica before we landed there. We had primarily chosen the destination as a jumping-off point for our time in the altiplano, but reserved a couple days of the trip to relax in the city. It was also the end of my time in Chile before heading home.
It turned out to be the perfect destination to wrap up an unbelievable trip. Arica is a beach town with an enormous shipping industry, and the bulk of tourists are domestic, Bolivian, or Peruvian. Unlike in Patagonia, almost nobody addressed me in English. I was mostly looking to enjoy a cold beverage in the sun, explore the city a bit, and eat well; I was able to accomplish all of those not-too-lofty goals. Taking a dip in the Pacific before heading back to the freezing New York winter wasn’t too bad either.
Getting There
There are a handful of daily flights between Santiago and Arica, with one-way, no-frills fares available under $50. (The only other regular destination is La Serena, Chile.) There are various long-haul bus routes available to destinations along the Chilean coast; Tacna, Peru; and major cities in Bolivia. Additionally, there is a twice-daily train between Arica and Tacna; tickets have to be purchased exactly one day in advance.
If flying in from Santiago (like we did), sit on the right side of the plane for jaw-dropping views of coastal cliffs and Highway 5 slicing through the Atacama. A taxi from the airport into the city was CLP 18,000 (USD ~$19), which seemed to be a flat fare. Taxis to the Peruvian border are also an option – it was unclear if they will take you beyond the border, or if crossing on foot and getting a taxi on the other side is required.
Our Stay
We stayed at the Hotel Apacheta, a gorgeous beachfront hotel with an unusual ocean view: thousands and thousands of seagulls lounging on rocks jutting out into the Pacific. The hotel had wonderful facilities and a delicious breakfast included with our stay., The one caveat was that a lack of air conditioning and the floor-to-ceiling, west-facing window in our room made it uncomfortably hot in the afternoon and evening.
The city center is small, and was very easy to explore on foot. It never rains in Arica (really, never: less than 1mm per year) and the weather is around 80 degrees and sunny all summer long. Unsurprisingly, life in the city is all about the beach: the sand is fairly dark but clean, and the water warms up enough in the afternoon to make it comfortable.
Saturday afternoon, as we walked into town, the two beach areas south of downtown were packed with partiers, families, and food/juice vendors. We stopped at a restaurant called Ruky’s for a couple pisco sours, which we sipped while basking in the sun and looking out across the ocean – the perfect conclusion to a trip packed with activity.
Food in Arica was considerably different from what was available in either the far south or in the altiplano. Arica’s unique geography, hundreds of miles of desert away from any other Chilean city, means that its culinary scene is a blend of Chilean, Peruvian, and Bolivian cuisines. Peruvian staples were widely available, and the arroz con mariscos that I enjoyed at La Limeña may have been my second-best meal in Chile (the winner was undoubtedly the homemade dinner at Doña Julia’s in the altiplano). We shared ceviche both evenings, and had salteñas at Caupolicán for lunch on Sunday – not the same texture as those in Cochabamba, but with similar fillings and flavors.
On the morning of our final full day in Chile, I ran to the top of El Morro – the enormous rock that dominates the cityscape – to once again admire the view out over Arica, the Atacama, and the Pacific. The desert and the ocean both sparkled in the morning sunlight. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped to swim at El Laucho beach, where I joined several other morning swimmers, volleyball players, and runners.
The combination of mountains, desert, ocean, and city in Chile’s far north was so much more than I could have asked for. Spending a couple days drinking pisco sours by the beach was the perfect way to wrap it up – and to start planning when we would come back.
