La Portada / Juan Lopez

Hewn by seawater out of striped sandstone, La Portada is the symbol of Antofagasta. It rises out of the sea a few kilometers north of the city. My grandparents and their generation had beach parties there. According to my grandmother at least one husband caught his wife their with another man, killed the man and got away with it. My mom went there too, here is a picture of her on the beach.

My Mom on the beach in '68 with cousins.

In 1983, I went down to that beach and tried to go out to the portada itself. My mom stopped me. I regret it because now it is under the authority of Ministry of Agriculture. They closed the beach to visitors in 2003 because the numbers of visitors were eroding the sandstone and threatening the site.

However, the ministry did build a lovely restaurant there.

La Portada, lover's land turned tourist trap

Some intrepid folk have built a shack here. No electricity, no running water, but an incredible view to wake up to in the morning.

Love Shack

Speaking of intrepid folk, my Aunt Mabel and I decided to drive up the road to see the town of Juan Lopez. In the back seat, my less intrepid Aunt Frances pleaded to God for safe passage, while my cousin rolled her eyes. Apparently the Chilean Ministry of Public Works (MOP) needed practice building winding roads through hills because the drive involved going up and down big hills with tight curves on a very modern road.

When my aunts were little girls (like the 60s) my whole family would drive up the coast to Juan Lopez and have a picnic on the beach, it was apparently a beach named after some guy called Juan Lopez. It has built up into an idyllic little hamlet by the sea.

Juan Lopez

The big reward though was on the way back, driving down the hills as the rapidly setting sun lit up the entire landscape making that which up close look like so much dirt into a scintillating spectrum of stripes and glitter.