We set off for Tocopilla in optimistic mood while Bart & Marijke returned to Taltal.. The others had been interested in a stop at the Copiapoa solaris site and as it was right along the side of the road, it was easy to include a short photo stop here.

Not long after, we took the right turn, inland, to Ruta 5. The problem was that it was the last sign to help us find our way. The previous day's events had confirmed that it's best to follow your instincts. We made some very brief scenic stops, not worthy of a stop number, particularly to see the fog fight their way over the first rows of the Cordillera de la Costa. The quality of the track improved as we got closer to Ruta 5 and eventually turned to tarmac. What luxury!

After the previous night's camping we treated ourselves to a late breakfast at the Copec on R5 outside of Antofagasta. Antofagasta was the usual culture shock of a busy bustling town with western traffic problems, after a couple of days in the wilderness. We found the way to the coast road and left the north of the town on Ruta 1, the coast road. This had really improved since 2001. It had moved a km or two inland, so we did not actually pass through the ghost town of Cobija, but took a turning off R1 to stretch our legs and while I took some pictures with the aid of my powerful zoom lens. The town has had a varied past, founded in 1825 as Bolivia's prime sea port; destroyed by an earthquake in 1865, according to some internet sources or in 1868 according to others and again, this time by a tsunami in 1877. While it was trying to re-establish itself from these disasters, Antofagasta, just 127 km south, was gaining in size and stature. By 1907, Cobija's church was moved 10 km north to the port of Gatico and the town was abandoned. 23 years later, Gatico underwent the same faith as the importance of the nitrate trade was overtaken by science.

The bright red Coca Cola stand and its charming owner who had only witnessed one incident of rain during her 46 years in 2001 were nowhere to be seen. Progress? Perhaps, but I would have preferred a few more rainchecks.

The volume of traffic had also increased dramatically. A people carrier, immediately in front of us seemed to be holding up the proceedings. Suddenly its sun roof opened up and a man appeared with a large film camera. 'Health & Safety inspector!' I suggested as some of the near by hillside seemed to have spilled on to the road.  'Just in time!' Trevor replied, as the size of some of the boulders was worrying. We came to a halt and we waved to the camera man and shouted 'Hello Mum!', as you do. The hold up was due to workmen controlling the traffic to a single file as a massive crack near the middle of the road made the ocean's side of the road unsafe. It became to dawn on us: the tremor that Marijke had felt at Botija yesterday had been a 'proper' earth quake and the car in front of us was from Chilean TV. Ooops!

We arrived in Tocopilla and headed for Hotel Casablanca, where we had stayed in 2001. It had not been the best hotel on that trip, but this time the walls had collapsed and curtains were flapping in glassless window frames. I looked for alternative accommodation, but noticed other buildings were also damaged. As we drove out of the town, we parked up for a quick assessment of the situation. We agreed that we appeared to have arrived in the midst of a disaster area. As we talked, I looked at the three story office building that we were parked next to. There was not a pane of glass left and people with hard hats were inspecting the damage. Trevor and I went for a quick drive through the town to see if the damage was just localised. It was not and we saw people putting up tents in the street, obviously afraid of after-shocks that would further destroy the damaged buildings. 'Was there anything that we could do to help?' Unlikely. Our knowledge of Spanish was limited to ordering wines and beers; services would already be stretched and seemed to cope - there were no signs of panic. The best thing we could do was to get out of town.

I suggested Calama as the nearest large town and so we headed inland. Just outside Tocopilla, on a small airstrip, military patrols were on duty and a large Hercules transporter plane was unloading. On the road to Calama we met enormous mining vehicles with digging equipment coming the other way. We drove past Maria Elena and Chuquicamata and arrived in Calama, a typical modern town with streets that were struggling to cope with today's volume of traffic. I found Hotel El Mirador, where we had stayed in 2004. It was impossible to park here, particularly for 3 large 4x4 cars. I asked Trevor to check if they had space and suggested that he'd pick up a runner from each of the other cars as well while the drivers would be driving around the blocks a few time and return to the square to get updates. The reports were not good, they had tried four hotels and all were full. Another lap - I'm sure that some of the ladies hanging out near a shop offering Tarot Card readings thought that I was on a curb crawling mission - then the good news: Trevor and Cliff had booked two car parties into Hotel Quitor, right on the square (Plaza 23 de Marzo). Neither knew what happened to Ian's car, but we discovered later that they had found rooms for the night in the red light district near the station. They moved into Hotel Quitor the following night.

The hotel had a wifi connection for the laptop, so that I could check the news pages to discover what had happened at Tocopilla: An earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale, lasting 50 seconds hit the coast of Chile, 35 km north of Tocopilla at 12:40 p.m. local time on 14 November 2007 (This was the shock that Marijke and Bart felt at Botija).  Tocopilla has a population of around 24,000 and near by Maria Elena (population 7,600) was also seriously affected. There were only 2 fatalities. The hospital and all schools were destroyed. Several thousand homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving 15,000 displaced people. Water, power and telephone lines to the area were cut and cell phone services were reported to be overloaded. On Thursday 15 November there were aftershocks,  including one of 6.8 magnitude and another of 6.2. The damage from those had not been assessed at the tie that I found the reports with the above information. Since I've been home, I have searched in vain with updates of how the town and its people are recovering.