Antofagasta Travel Guide

Nostradamus, specializing in food from Southern Chile
English speaking, which is somewhat unusual here. The owner's name is Sergio, and he will usually come and greet you personally.

The decor is nice. The restaurant is in a converted turn-of-the-century house, and the music is usually jazz (a blessed relief from the almost ubiquitous salsa music)

Favorite Dish: Cordero 'al palo', which is essentially seasoned lamb roasted whole on a spit. The seafood selections are also good. Chile prides itself on shellfish ('mariscos'), but I prefer fish. Lenguado (similar to flounder) and congrio (an eel-like thing that tastes a bit like cod) are two good selections. Remember to ask for 'pebre', a spicy tomato/onion/cilantro mix that is eaten on bread as an appetizer.

Stores typically open from about 9:30 to 1:00, then close until about 4:00 to 5:00 and stay open usually until about 9:00 PM. Most of them just open and close when they want to, but that's the general schedule. Sunday shopping is limited.

Don't even think about trying to find breakfast anywhere except a hotel, and even in the hotels it tends to be pitiful. (The Hotel Antofagasta is an exception). Lunch is usually served from about 12:30 to 2:30, and supper from about 8:30 to about 11:00 PM. That's right, folks... don't even dream about getting food at the usual North American supper time of 5:00 to 7:00 PM, unless you want to do so at the McDonalds (a new Antofagasta feature).

If you are driving a car, then every time you stop anywhere near downtown some fellow with a pail will come and ask if you want him to guard your car, or to wash it. Whatever you do, do not say no. He is really asking you if you would like your car vandalized, and if not to please pay him about 100 or 200 pesos, the US equivalent of about a quarter. Getting your car scoured with sandy water from his filthy pail will cost you about $US 3. Get the picture? Give the man his quarter, nothing more and nothing less. My wife paid for one guy to clean the windshield of our car while she went shopping and the guy actually used sandpaper to do so. These guys are not nuclear physicists.

Party time starts at midnight and lasts until 6:00 in the morning. It is rude to make obscene amounts of noise any time before midnight, because people may be trying to watch TV. However, midnight to dawn is fair game. (You think I'm joking. Much to my own regret, I am not).

The police are trustworthy. Do not be afraid of them, and do not do something monumentally stupid and rude like trying to bribe them. If you do then you will get what you deserve.

Expect people to be completely without manners at anything resembling a lineup. Shove, push, and be brutally selfish and rude in such circumstances. Anything else will identify you as the weak animal.

Carry toilet paper. Public restrooms, in addition to looking like the inside of a dead man's colon, tend not to have any. At 10 cents a roll it is perceived as a valuable commodity worth stealing.

People everywhere, especially kids, will ask you for money. If you are really cynical, give them all some. You cynics out there will understand why.

Believe it or not, the municipal water is drinkable. Be careful of shellfish from small or disreputable looking restaurants. Virtually everyone is selling the stuff. My wife was in hospital for four days and sick for weeks afterward from some unnamed parasitic entity she contracted from a seafood empanada.

Everyone will tell you to go to La Portada. It is a non event, consisting of a large perforated rock in the ocean, surrounded by a litter strewn beach that is now hard to access due to an earthquake that destabilized the stairway a few years ago. There is a restaurant that has a nice view, but the food is not particularly inspiring.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: It is always temperate here. In winter you might want a light sweater at night, but that's about the limit of it. If you plan on going into the mountains, it will get quite cold at night. It never rains. Never.

Wear lots of cheesy polyester and platform soles. That way you will not stick out.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: The amount of drugs you can get at the pharmacy just for the asking is.. well.. unusual.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: The UV down here tends to be hard. Bear that in mind if you intend to go into the mountains. Antofagasta has no beaches worth mentioning. The few areas that are sandy rather than rocky tend to be extremely polluted with garbage.