M. Beretta: Journal photos by stories, stories by photos

CHILE | Thursday, 4 July 2013 | Views [518] | View Smaller Image

The almost abandoned “atacameñan” town of Machuca is located 4000 meters above sea level, near the “Rio Grande” and “El Tatio Geysers”. With only 20 houses and one church it’s only visited by its past habitants in Christmas Day and for the annual party to celebrate Saint Peter. Although this human like figure appears to be the last habitant of Machuca, there still some locals that continue visiting the town along with their lamas. They’re keen on earning some money by selling handmade crafts and native food or maybe they just feel homesick so they keep on returning.

With more than 1000 kilometers of scorching sand, the Atacama Desert, at the west of Los Andes mountains in Chile, is known as the driest place in the world. Sunrays sting the soil like roasting daggers while lamas and vicuñas, the “Chilean camels”, search a bit of dried grass to eat. The amount of rain per year is approximately 1-15 milimiters, there are some regions in Atacama that have never been rinsed at all because rain mostly falls at the sea. The “camanchaca”, the matinal marine fog, may be one of the few water sources for cactus, moss and lichens that grow in the area.

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The mining industry flourished in the region between the 18th and 19th century but water resources were always a conflict. The extraction of gold and sodium nitrate (salt) stopped in the 20th century but today’s copper industry is ranked first place globally and it’s the most valuable industry of Chile. Workers started migrating there and Machuca prospered but when mining activity moved to the northern city of Calama, where the world’s biggest copper mine is located (“Chuquicamata”), and salt extraction became outlawed when Atacama was declared World’s Patrimony, Machuca became desolate.

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M. Beretta: Journal photos by stories, stories by photos

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