Lord of the Flies, Part II – Haroldo’s Posada

Cuya – Haraldo’s, Aracapa Desert, Chile

Remember the Lord of the Flies campsite we stayed at in Texas? We’re currently enjoying Lord of the Flies, Part II – Haroldo’s Posada. We pulled into this “posada” a few hours ago. I don’t know what the definition of this word really is, but in the Atacama it apparently means any ramshackle shack that someone might offer some type of food or drink out of. They’re always dusty. The menu is always limited – and offered on more or less a take-it-or-leave-it basis. They may or may not have the offerings advertised on their signage immediately outside the buildings – usually not. The buildings are always in various states of disrepair. And, if you’re lucky you’ll find a posada every 25 miles or so. 

Well, this is it for us. The only option within 20 miles – and we are done for the day. 100 kilometers with 5,000 feet or so of climbing with loaded bikes. No mas. 

The good news? We can camp in the back – they don’t care – and they have showers we can use for a thousand pesos ($1). 

We’re apparently in some type of flood plain from a nearby river so there are a few scrubby trees around, and we go to set up the tent in the meager shade offered by the biggest one. But before we get far Diana points out that this tree is apparently where all the truckers go when they don’t want to pay the 50 cents that it costs to use the baños at Haroldo’s – so it smells like urine. (Not that you can blame the truckers – the bathrooms are foul!)

We opt to set up away from the tree – in the sun . . . It won’t matter at night anyway . . .

The showers? My God. I think I would rather risk a Psycho scene than shower there again . . . Rusted out. Broken. Filthy. They’re in a trailer thing – and the “drain” is just a hole in the floor. 

This whole desert seems to play like Mad Max Thunderdome!

Oh, but we haven’t even told you about dinner yet. Your options: a cold cheese and some-kind-of-mystery-meat sandwich. 

Oh, you wanted another choice? 

Nope. Nada. 

Diana asked for avocado just to have some little bit of vegetable matter. 

Nope. Nada. The woman looked at Diana like she was crazy after that request. 

But then, adding insult to injury, after we were done we saw them serving some sandwiches to another party. With avocado! Diana pointed out that this is what she was asking for all along. The Nope Nada woman just laughed. 

Maybe next time . . .

So now we’re sitting in the tent. And you know what the worst part is? I’m afraid it’s going to rain tonight. There are big storm clouds to the east – where the mountains are. This Holly Hobby tent that we have is definitely not designed for anything but the barest sprinkle. The rain fly is literally 2’ x 2’ – just big enough to fit over the small ventilation screen in the top of the tent. Oh, and we’re set up in a flood plain – did I mention that? And you remember that peanut butter mud up at the Ecuador/Peru border? This stuff looks more like concrete . . . even worse.

If it rains tonight you can just bury me in that concrete. I’ll be done . . . And, no, Bill M, you can’t have my bike . . . 🙂

So hopefully tonight is not the night that it decides to rain in the Atacama for the first time in literally like 10,000 years. 

But, of course, we have some good dessert – not desert – did you see that? I spelled it correctly . . . 

Wait, let’s try that again . . . 

But, of course, we have some good dessert items, right? 

Wrong!

The options? Off-label oreos or a bunch of other off-label weird cocokie-like things. And, believe me, we’ve tried them. 

We had some vanilla something-or-others at lunch today. Like many of these Latin American Surprises, they seem like they’re going to be good. But then the flavor is off. Like vanilla with mayonaise or something . . .

Diana explained that her Mom used to get off-brand cookies like this when they were growing up. They were always cheap – like five packs for a dollar. I can just see Mrs. Liu (Diana’s Mom) saying something like: “They taste fine to me. You children always complain. Why spend more when they are the same?”

Diana remembers a particular day when their house had some ants running around. I guess Diana and her brother Phil put some of the cookies out right in the middle of an ant highway. The ants just went around them. 

“Look Mom. Even the ants won’t eat them.”

Mrs. Liu was not amused. 

I don’t think there were ever any good sweets in their house. Which, I think, scarred Diana for life. Turns out she loves good sweets. I think that, growing up she must have swore that as an adult her house would always have good quality sweets. Which, I think, explains all her baking, her lifetime supply of baking chocolate, and her need to always buy – and try – any baked goods that might be available. 

Pretty sure the disappointing baked goods in Latin America are the hardest part of the trip for her . . .

But she’ll never give up trying to find something that’s good . . .

Okay – I just re-read what I’ve written so far. 

Sounds like a terrible day. 

It wasn’t all bad. 

We woke up early, started biking at sunrise, and enjoyed our biggest climb of the day – up 4,000’ or so – before the heat arrived in full force. This was also the prettiest part of the day. Turns out that in the Atacama you are either going up and down and it’s striking, or it’s flat and not super scenic . . . 

The rest of the day was flatter (good for biking, not so pretty) and there were actually a few clouds around. All-in-all a pretty nice day on the bikes.

But we are, once again, considering a great leap forward. Tomorrow we arrive in Iquique – another town that is still in the desert but on the coast. Turns out we don’t hate the desert, but the whole posada thing is already getting kind of old. Also, as one of you pointed out, it’s still 3,200 miles or so to Patagonia – and already fall there. So maybe skipping the rest of the Atacama is a good idea. 

We’ll see. If it doesn’t rain tonight so we wind up stuck in the concrete – and if I don’t starve to death overnight after having a pathetic sandwich for dinner after a full day’s riding – then we’ll consider our options . . .