Cheap Antofagasta Vacation Packages
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile. It is regarded as ‘the Pearl of the North’ in the country for its historical and economic significance, and its seaside natural scenery. Representative of this city is a natural formation in the middle of the sea, called La Portada (or The Gateway). This astounding piece of a marvel is formed by volcanic rocks that resemble a hollowed out arch or a gate, and were shaped thus over millions of years by the winds and waters of Pacific Ocean. Another attraction here is ‘La Mano del Desierto’, which is located less than 80 kms from the city. It is an 11m high sculpture of a hand made by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal in the Atacama Desert.
Places of Interest in Antofagasta
La Portada (or the Gateway)
La Portada is a natural arch made by marine erosion of rocks along the coast of Chile. Its base is made of black andesite stone that supports some other layers of sedimentary rocks, sandstone and numerous layers of precious fossils that date back to 35 million years ago. La Portada is a remarkable place to admire natural scenery and assorted fauna like guano birds, South American fur seal and dolphins.
La Mano de Desierto
Made by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal in March 1992, La Mano de Desierto is a large-scale sculpture resembling a human hand and is located in Atacama Desert in Chile. Irarrazabal had used the shape of a human hand to express negative emotions like injustice, loneliness, sorrow and torture, and that the figure’s exaggerated size is a reflection of the same. La Mano is made of iron and concrete, and is 36 ft tall.
Laguna Cejar
If you’d like to swim without ever sinking, you should head for Laguna Cejar. It is saltier than Dead Sea and that makes swimming here a piece of cake. This lagoon is beautiful in two measures: first that it offers a scenic landscape of turquoise waters with a 360-degre view of deserts and mountains nearby, and second that it is a natural habitat of flamingos.