Chuquicamata Cemetery

The Chuquicamata mine sits just outside of Calama and has been mined since Inca days. Industrial production of this copper mine began in the late 1800s.  There is/was actually a town next to the mining facility with, of course, a cemetery which we stopped to visit on our return trip from Chug Chug.

Before I insert the pictures, I wanted to share that the Chuqui population was moved to Calama in 2005/2006 due to environmental issues. This is a nasty mine to live near, even here in Calamaville so can't imagine what it was like to live right next to it. A smokestack at the mine spews (I'll have to check with Larry on what it is actually spewing but whatever it is, along with being a very barren desert, air quality is adversly affected!)   The government company that operates the mine is called Codelco.  As I understand, Codelco provides housing for all employees here in Calama. To accomodate the Chuqui population in Calama, Codelco built duplex-type homes in various locations throughout Calama.  I'll stop here with the benefits the workers receive -- there are too many to identify! -- not that receiving benefits from the company you work for is bad!

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to show the cemetery. 

Yikes! I've instructed Larry that I prefer cremation should I die while here in Calama!

We traveled to Antofagasta to visit our friend Maria Gracia and her son Jeremy in January. Maria Gracia lives in Canada but is from Antofagasta and returns during this time of year to visit family.  One of our first posts on this blog was our trip to Antofagasta a year ago to visit them.  We're going to like this tradition as long as we're living in Chile.  (Note: Maria Gracia was born in the town of Chuquicamata.)

(l-r: Maria Gracia's niece and her sister visiting from Punta Arenas, Maria Gracia's father and mother and Maria Gracia.  Jeremy was along for the visit too but the little guy was sleeping as this was at 2 a.m. and we took this photo as we were heading out the door.  We had a lovely dinner and very much enjoyed meeting the family.  We're sorry Dave [Maria Gracia's husband] had to stay home and work!