Wanna visit the Town of the Great Salt Lake?
That seems to be the meaning of the name Antofagasta (from the Diaguita words anto = large; faya = salt lake; gasta = town)
This formerly Bolivian city is now at the center of the Chilean mining industry, making it an important destination for air carriers.
But more than that - and more relevant for us, flight-reporters - is that Antofagasta was the birthplace of Dora Magdalena María Koeppen Maisán - aka Mucki Koeppen - the very first Chilean flight attendant. You can read a history bonus about her at the end of this report.
This is flight 7 of 9 of my 2018 summer holidays. The reports for flight 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are also available!
Flying "smart"
As explained in a previous report, JetSmart is a Chilean ULCC created by US investors Indigo Partners. It's been in service since 2017.
In their ads they encourage travellers to "fly smart". Well, smart is my middle name, so let's see what happens. :D
After picking my flight from Santiago to Antofagasta I have to enter my personal information. Feel free to notice my birthday. Thanks. XDDD
My eyes bleed when I read at the bottom "All fields ending in a * are mandatorios". Calque from the English word mandatory. The correct word would be obligatorios. Gosh.
Anyway, the price (one way) is 12.406 CLP (19 USD). Not bad at all, considering that its a 1100km journey!
Besides, have a look at the prices for a one way bus ticket for the same route. The cheapest is 45 USD. And it's an 18-hour ride!
I'm afraid I'll be carrying more than a backpack after my trip around Patagonia, so I pay an extra 5000 CLP (7.5 USD) for checked baggage.
Prices were recently increased, according to this chart published by JetSmart on their Facebook account.
Durante la compra = During purchase
Después de comprar = After purchasing
En el counter = At the counter
En la puerta de embarque = At the boarding gate
Next step is choosing a seat.
For 2000 CLP (3 USD) I pick a window seat. But I still wonder why I didn't choose a "smart" seat with extra legroom for 6 USD. I'm not that smart, after all! XDD
So the final price is 19.406 CLP (29 USD). Not bad!
"Congrats! You purchased you ticket successfully" seven months before the trip.
Mobile boarding card.
At SCL
A nice way to spoil your flying experience: a summer cold. It was meant to happen after two weeks of cold, penguins and ice.
With a fever and a nose like a leaking faucet, I take the bus to the airport. Oops. A 100 CLP (0.15 USD) increase since the last time.
Caught from the bus window.
The new terminal is making a lot of progress, it seems.
By the way, the airport concession's holder published an updated video showing what the new terminal will look like inside.
Yikes. More and more people are flying here.
The moment of truth. Let's see if I am really smart.
Nope. Paying for extra baggage was unnecessary. The limit for free baggage was 8kg. :(
So I guess I'm smart, but in a Maxwell Smart sort of way. Where are you when I need you, 99!!!! XDDD
My favorite shop at the airport! I'd gladly visit it…
…if I wasn't stuck at a line for security check as long as next week!
The line moves quickly, though. In minutes we go from the counters area to the entrance to security check.
All the check points are working at full steam!
Once in the boarding room I go straight to the bottom with the intention of enjoying some spotting…
…but I'd rather be in my bed. Aaaa choooooo…!!!
I just seat and languish until my plane comes.
And who is it?
Nothing less than Violeta! My first ride ever with JetSmart. The one of my adventure in the roadside dump!
Violeta (aka CC-AWC) has a loica on its tail.
I gather my pieces and crawl to the line.
Her lap label reads Acciona, which is the company in charge of JetSmart's ground services.
Not the cute kind, huh? She remind me so much of my sister at the same age.
She would tie a piece of string around the neck of a Barbie doll and drag it around the house!
Cabin luggage is not necessarily free with JetSmart. Well, you have the price chart above.
Part of JetSmart strategy to get customers to identify themselves with the company: a livery with the national colors, blue, red, and white.
The thin, sleek seats give the cabin a decluttered look that I like…
…but I wouldn't fly long-haul on these. They're rather hard and won't recline. My back would not tolerate it.
The tray table and…
…the pocket are comfortably out of the way, even with my roll of toilet paper in it. It's for my nose! I use six at least every time I catch a cold. :(
I wonder what's in the menu.
A Mexican fajita with quinoa and black beans! They're becoming a habit for me.
The Flight
Some additional information about this flight.
We don't have to wait long…
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…before we push back.
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This Twin Otter meets us on our way to the runway.
Won't you stop?!
Honk - honk. Get out of the way!
After a tour with some idyllic views of the airport grounds…
…we make it to the runway…
…and take off towards the south as usual, even though Antofagasta is to the north.
After the Pronto Copec on Costanera Norte…
…and the intersection with Ruta 68 to Valparaíso…
…we bank to the right above Lo Aguirre hill…
…with a view of River Mapocho…
…which is now free from the concrete bed that held it while it flowed through the middle of Santiago.
After crossing Ruta 68 again, but towards the north…
…and climbing above Lo Prado tunnel…
…we are finally heading north above the island hills of the valley of Santiago.
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If you have read my previous reports you might be familiar with…
…toxic El mauro tailings dam…
…just west of Corrales dam…
…at the foot of the mountains.
The BOB service starts and I ask for my fajita…
…aka wrap mexicano. See the manufacturing and expiry dates on the label.
Really? Just one day??
Inside, it looks as promised. Lots of quinoa. Yummy!
North of Santiago there's an area stretching for some 600km where the mountains reach the sea. People there live in the valleys that run from east to west, from the Andes to the sea. Hence their name: valles transversales.
The valley of river Choapa, for example. The town of Salamanca is there.
Or the valley of river Illapel.
El Bato dam is at its top.
The valley of river Combarbalá, renowned for a beautiful kind of handicraft in stone…
…is near the valley of river Cogotí.
Rocks in the nearby mountains are quite special…
…and artisans in the valley of Combarbalá turn them into little works of art. Look at their colors!
Source
The question is: is it possible to see those colors from the air? Just wait and see!!
For the next hour we fly over La Paloma dam.
The towns of Monte Patria and El Palqui lie on its shores.
The valley of river Elqui is one of the most important of the area.
Puclaro dam is located there.
In the valley of river Huasco…
…Vallenar has an airport, and Aerocardal airlines covered the Santiago > Vallenar route with Dornier 328 aircraft for a couple of years…
…but several mining projects came to an end and there was no more demand for those flights.
Santa Juana dam.
As we near Antofagasta I see striking variations in the color of the ground underneath.
I wonder what makes those spots so bright.
Then I see patches of red or yellow…
…before and after flying above Copiapó…
…the northernmost important valley…
…before Atacama desert takes over the landscape completely.
Ruta 5 Norte (aka Panamerican Highway)…
…winds along a large yellowish spot near Chañaral.
It's when we're flying above Taltal that I notice more and more color spots on the ground…
…but the air in between gives the photos a hazy look. It's when I "clean" the images with Photoshop that the magic happens, and the real colors come to life. Is that a purple spot down there?
Indeed! This is what the ground looks like without the haze, and this is what the artisans in Combarbalá reveal by polishing the stone.
I'm afraid my camera or the computer software may be playing a trick on me, so I check the area on Google Maps. This is what I find:
The desert is full of color!!! Check it yourself here.
I'm speechless.
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In the midst of this sea of color, Paranal observatory is home to the ESO Very Large Telescope, 120 km south of Antofagasta and 110 km north of Taltal.
You can visit it on weekends. More info here. I wanted to, but I didn't spend the weekend in Antofagasta. :''(
A mine near the coast.
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The Humboldt current…
…flows towards the north…
…bringing cold water - and even penguins! - to the desert.
Don't you think of fractals when you see these cliffs?
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Puerto Coloso, a port…
…that is the property of a mining company…
…is located…
…right south of Antofagasta.
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Antofagasta is a long, narrow city…
…tucked between the hills…
…and the sea.
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Calvo y Bascuñán regional stadium.
Downtown.
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Terminal station of the Antofagasta - Bolivia Railway, a cargo company.
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A lot of new housing projects are popping up in the north area of the city.
This area is classified as "cloudy coastal desert" for a reason!
This is a most remarkable moment for me. An outstanding geographical feature of the northern coast of Chile that catches your eye at first sight is a peninsula just north of Antofagasta. I was intrigued by it since I was a child and saw it on maps. And here it is! The dark terrain underneath is Moreno hill. The airport is located in the peninsula, and was originally named after this hill, Cerro Moreno.
We turn right…
…above the peninsula.
The city is on my right now.
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We keep turning. We're flying to the south now. I see Moreno hill over there.
In final approach.
And the Argentine tourist gude says that Patagonia is monotonous. Ha! She's never been here!
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Judging from the tracks, people find ways to have fun here, huh?
The airport fencing.
This airport is an airbase, too.
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Daniel Sabella Airport
Aaaand…
…welcome to ANF…
…formerly known as Cerro Moreno airport, but renamed Daniel Sabella after a local poet.
Hey! The airport looks…
…quite modern.
Crossing the taxiway.
Sky…
…and LATAM also fly to ANF.
Of course. Antofagasta is a main center of the copper mining industry in Chile.
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Here we are.
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Only when CC-ABV pushes back I realize that…
…CC-BBI is a Dreamliner. Probably on its way to or from Lima.
Whatever happened to the paint above the wing?
I think ANF looks great.
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Thank goodness the weather on the coast of the desert is never too hot or too cold.
I should recover quickly here.
Inside, ANF reminds me of other Chilean airports.
I think they were all made from the same template!
(Last view of the apron)
In fact, those stairs remind me a lot of ZCO.
Services for the mining industry. What else could you expect here?
I visit baggage claim…
…with reporting purposes only…
…and immediately head for the exit…
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…where taxis and transfer vans are already waiting.
7.5 USD is quite expensive for a 10km ride, I think. :(
But well, I have read that Antofagasta is…
…one of the most expensive cities in Chile…
…and the one with the highest per capita incomes in the country (about 37000 USD)
But frankly, I didn't really notice it during my stay.
I paid just 23 USD a night at my Airbnb…
…and the prices at the supermarket were the same as in the rest of the country.
So, if you plan on visiting the city after reading this report…
…that sign outside the airport shows how you should feel: Bienvenido a Antofagasta!
Mucki Koeppen - The first Chilean flight attendant
Dora Magdalena María "Mucki" Koeppen Maisán was born in Antofagasta on January 21, 1918.
Her father died when she was two years old. Her mother moved to a small village near Temuco and later married Wilhelm Schoeneweg Sowitzky, a German engineer who worked as a teacher at Temuco's Industrial School.
Schoeneweg used to have his students build aircraft models with help from some technical books and articles. Dora grew interested in the topic, and she decided that she should work in the area of aviation.
Unfortunately, aviation-related jobs were reserved exclusively for men in Chile back then, so she could not get any kind of professional degree in that area. But then she joined the Club Aéreo de Temuco (Temuco Flying Club) in 1939. Luckily, that same year Commander Manuel Tovarias had been appointed Commander of the Fourth Air Zone, which implied becoming the president of the Flying Club. Tovarias introduced new policies, such as allowing women to join the club.
That's how Mucki and two other ladies learned to fly on two old De Havilland Gipsy Moth aircraft. On February 3, 1940, Dora "Mucki" Koeppen got her pilot brevet.
(In German) To remember my flying exam. 3 II 40. Mucki.
In 1943 three Lockheed Lodestar C-60 were added to the National Airline's (LAN) fleet, and a flight attendant service was started. Mucki was hired as the first Chilean flight attendant.
In 1944 the government was distributing 30 Aeronca L3-B planes purchased for flying clubs. One of them (CC-33) had been assigned to Antofagasta. However, the pilot taking the plane to Antofagasta had an accident between La Serena and Vallenar. He was badly hurt and the plane was destroyed. So a new plane was destined to Antofagasta, but in sight of what had happened and the bad conditions of the route, no pilot was willing to do the job.
Mucki volunteered. She asked LAN for a leave, and flew the Aeronca with stops at Quintero, Ovalle, La Serena, Copiapó and Taltal. She was celebrated as a hero at her arrival.
Thanks to this, the Antofagasta Flying Club could finally open and was able to start training pilots.
This made her so famous that even Coca Cola featured her in an ad, hailing her as an example: Miss Mucky Koeppen, on arrival from the Santiago - Antofagasta air raid. A magnificent example for all sports lovers. A Chilean young woman did not fear 1100 kilometers of mountain, sea and desert, piloting a 65 H.P. plane.
You can read much more about her interesting life at the source for this information (in Spanish).
And that's how, nowadays, Antofagasta airport has been named after a poet.
Hm. Is that fair?
Tourism Bonus - Antofagasta
Ungrateful as they might be, I'll include some photos of the city.
This is my first time in the city. I noticed that it's split into two main areas. The south area around Angamos park is the most well-off, with nice buildings and shopping centers and all.
The stadium we saw from the plane…
…is just opposite a large shopping mall.
Next to the mall…
…is the Japanese Park. Nice, but the Japanese Park in La Serena is much larger and beautiful. Even better that the Buenos Aires Japanese Park, which I visited only last week.
Motorcycle-riding carabineros (police officers)
The south of the city…
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…near McDonald's…
…is where the largest beach of the city is located.
In this case, "largest" doesn't necessarily mean very large. It's quite small, actually.
The south of the city…
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…near McDonald's…
…is where the largest beach of the city is located.
In this case, "largest" doesn't necessarily mean very large. It's quite small, actually.
It's so small that a floating platform is necessary to add some extra room for sunbathers.
Most beaches in Antofagasta are artificial because of the rocky shore…
…which is not necessarily an inconvenience, especially if you are a seabird.
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Some views of the seafront…
…which is flanked by some colorful designs…
A diver in a black wetsuit comes out to the shore after fishing…
…and dries his wings under the sun.
Downtown…
…you find the access to the port.
And a couple streets to the north there's a sort of promenade…
…next to a smaller dock…
…that has been turned into a stage for exhibitions and performances.
Opposite the dock and the promenade…
…are some old buildings…
…that belong to the Antofagasta - Bolivia Railway Company.
Some of them have been turned into a museum.
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They are only a couple of streets from…
…the main Plaza de Armas, or main square, in the not so beautiful older part of the city.
This older part of the city revolves around two main walking streets…
…with a lot of shops.
The offices of the National Tourism Service (SERNATUR) are in this building on the right, by the traffic lights.
Antofagasta is not a particularly dangerous city, but I was advised to stay away from those areas on the hills. It's not like your life will be in danger automatically if you get there, but if you look like a tourist and are carrying a camera hanging from your neck…. You better stay downtown.
Finally, a beautiful building in the old part of the city is the Municipal Market. There are restaurants inside. It looks nice outside, but…
…but I think it needs a revamp inside.
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The food is not exceptional, either. Anyway, I'm paying 6 USD for a dish twice as big and twice as good as the one that cost me 24 USD in Punta del Este, Uruguay. So, bon appetit!
Thanks for reading! :D
doobie-doobie
hhhmmmm. Flightreporter ?!
ROFLMAO
Thank you VERY much, Sotto!!!
You finally commented one of my reports. I was feeling neglected!! XDDD
Hope I'll live to read one of yours!!! That will surely help me soooo much to improve my writing style.
Good luck with that!! XDDDD
doobie-doobie
@Sotto - looks like you posted your reply at the same time. Your response is much more constructive than your initial comment.
"Possible explanation of the route from the cockpit or was the aircraft and its externally recognizable state trustworthy."
- That seems a little too technical, but everyone is free to write Flight-Reports as they wish as long as there is a good description of the passenger experience (which is the case in this report) and a minimum amount of photos to illustrate the experience. A Flight-Report is first and foremost a review of the passenger experience, and that is by nature a very personal experience which is lived in different ways by different people. That is the beauty of this site--seeing the different perspectives from thousands of reviewers from all over the world. This will always be subjective, no matter how "fair" someone tries to be in a review. A review is a personal opinion, after all.
"As a passenger, I just want to be a number."
- I assume you meant "As a passenger, I don't just want to be a number" -- and I think we can all agree with that.
sorry. As a passenger I don't like to be a number. That I mean. And that is correct.
@Sotto
Looks like a Flight-Report to me! It's about a flight, it's informative, and it describes all aspects of the flight from booking to arrival. That's pretty much the definition of a Flight-Report. And as a bonus it's beautifully photographed and well written with a touch of humour.
Care to shed some light as to why you are questioning whether this post is a Flight-Report? I'd love to hear it.
Hola Nelson!
Thanks for sharing another excellent and detailed FR. By the time I finished reading this I felt that I was the one taking the trip. ;)
The bonus is always a treat and I appreciate all the great pics that accompany your eloquent narrative.
Adan!!
Qué agradable sorpresa!! Todo bien?
The kits proved to be very useful during the summer holidays! :D
Still considering a trip to these latitudes?
Eloquent? Thanks. Yes. When you have to deal with 200 stubborn, indifferent adolescents at school you learn to be eloquent!
Gracias por pasar por aquí. Que estés bien!! :)
"Todo bien?"
- More or less. When life gives you lemons you learn to make lemonade and I put extra sugar on mine. ;)
"The kits proved to be very useful during the summer holidays! :D"
- Glad you put them to good use.
"Still considering a trip to these latitudes?"
- I might surprise you one of these days. :P
"When you have to deal with 200 stubborn, indifferent adolescents at school you learn to be eloquent!"
- I think you might have reached the status of "profe favorito". ;)
FR is lucky to have you as a contributor. Saludos.
Excellent report Nelson. I enjoyed as is the case with each and every report you make. Very interesting pictures of Antofagasta.
I´m going to Santiago in september. I´ll try ROS-SCL-ROS with Latam
Hola Fernando!
Oh, muchas gracias!! Me siento muy honrado y halagado. Es muy animador saber que alguien disfruta lo que uno hace. Muchas gracias.
Maravilloso! Has estado en Santiago antes? Escogiste la mejor época para venir! La primavera es hermosa y, además, el 18 de septiembre es el día nacional (Fiestas Patrias) y por esas fechas hay un ambiente muy agradable y festivo, con las tiendas decoradas, banderas por todos lados, etc. No olvides probar la comida tradicional, que suele ser abundante en esos días: pastel de choclo, humitas, cazuela, sopaipillas, empanadas, mote con huesillo..... uuuuuff.... me da hambre!! Anda a Pomaire, muy cerca de Santiago, en el camino a Viña del Mar, y prueba una empanada gigante!!! O anda a comer pescado a Viña o Valparaíso!! En el mercado municipal de Santiago también se come muy bien, y barato!
Yo regresé la semana pasada de Argentina. Quedé absolutamente loco con tantas cosas bonitas que vi! Bariloche nevado es tan pintoresco! Buenso Aires me encantó. Estuve alojándome en Recoleta, en avenida Santa Fe. Pude ir a pie al obelisco, a la Casa Rosada, a Puerto Madero, recorrí las librerías de segunda mano de calle Corrientes y me traje un cerro de libros!! Y me puedes creer que fui al jardín japonés y conocí a un señor japonés que tiene un hijo en Valdivia, donde yo vivo??? No podíamos creer lo pequeño que es el mundo!!
Y luego Iguazú. Yo sabía que las cataratas eran grandes, pero nunca pensé que eran TAN impresionantes! Es sobrecogedor. Tremenda manifestación de la naturaleza. Y los coatíes! Hasta le agarré la punta de la colita a uno pero él no supo quién había sido así que no me pudo morder!! En fin, me vine con una cantidad enorme de recuerdos. Y lo mejor de todo es que pude volar al menos una vez en un MD-80!!! Jajajajj Eran cuatro vuelos, pero solamente en uno tuve la suerte.
Bueno, si te puedo ayudar en algo en tu viaje me avisas.
Que lo pases muy bien!!!
Gracias Nelson por toda la data que me diste, voy a estar en Santiago alojado en Providencia cerca del Costanera Center
Saludos desde Rosario!
Se me ocurrió que te podría interesar. jajjjajaj
http://chile.voyhoy.com/blog/las-cinco-sangucherias-imperdibles-de-santiago/
You weren't kidding those mountains are very colourful! The aerials do not disappoint, as usual :-)
Flying over deserts with the dry air makes for some great crisp shots. This drier area of Chile and the mountains with the colours remind me of flying over Peru (one of many reports I never got around to posting).
As for JetSmart, it doesn't looks like anything particularly exciting, but seems to be a good value for such a cheap price, and the B.O.B. does seem good. The cabin is kind of blah and the seats look like uncomfortable ironing boards. lol
Great Shots of the European Southern Observatory! Thanks for sharing!
Hola Kevin!
I couldn't agree more. Well, flying economy all the time, sometimes I think to myself "The same thing again. Will this make for a good report?". But then I think that all these reports piling up on flight-report.com will become more valuable in time, not only for passengers looking for the best service, but for researchers, historians, students, and even the airlines themselves. After all, it's becoming a huge data base!
Anyway, for the time being, I just love leaving a register of my trips. I hope I'm not abusing flight-report.com in that sense! :D
Indeed! This is a recent revolution in Chile, and the same is going to happen at the end of this year in Argentina. Their government decided to allow airlines to set their own fares at will. There used to be a minimum fare they could charge, in order to protect AR.
Gracias por comentar!! :D
"Well, flying economy all the time, sometimes I think to myself "The same thing again. Will this make for a good report?".
- Your contributions are always appreciated, as many have mentioned, all the scenery in addition to the airline details really makes one feel like you're travelling as well!
"But then I think that all these reports piling up on flight-report.com will become more valuable in time,"
- Exactly! It's like I always say, every flight is worth sharing. A review, no matter how ordinary it may seem to one person may me extremely valuable to someone else pondering their airline options on a route.
"After all, it's becoming a huge data base!"
- Yes indeed! Over 20,000 reports strong and getting bigger every day
"Anyway, for the time being, I just love leaving a register of my trips. I hope I'm not abusing flight-report.com in that sense! "
- Haha, no way. In my opinion a Flight-Report is as much for yourself as it is for others. To me it's a nice way to keep a log/memory of your flights while sharing your opinion about the flight experience with a wider audience
"This is a recent revolution in Chile, and the same is going to happen at the end of this year in Argentina."
- That's great for competition and it keeps the big guys like LATAM honest. Yes, I can't believe Norwegian is going to establish hubs in Argentina!
Buen fin de semana!
Igualmente! :)
Hello, tickes were actually very cheap.
JetSmart looks like a good option for travelling in Chile, I would try it eventually.
Buen reporte, lo disfruté mucho
Saludos
Hola jacrew76!
Sí. JetSmart no está tan mal. Digamos que te lleva de A a B y listo. Hasta el momento no he sabido de grandes demoras en sus vuelos ni nada que los haga poco confiables. Al contrario, he leído puras buenas referencias sobre ellos. Siempre tienen ofertas y promociones. La única desventaja para mí, que a menudo sufro de dolor de espalda, es que los asientos no se puedan reclinar.
Gracias por pasar por aquí! :)
Increíbles los precios de JetSmart considerando las distancias a recorrer!
En Colombia la LCC (VivaAir) todavía no ofrece precios que le compitan de tu a tu a los buses.
Excelente tour de Antofagasta por cierto, un abrazo!
Gracias Chibcha!
Que estés bien! :)