December 2, 2005
Day 65
After getting a late start today, I was up for some exercise. I discovered that a few decades ago, the Chilean government wanted to help the commerce in Iquique, so they created a huge tax-free shopping zone called the Zofri. It was on the other side of town, but I elected to walk there rather than take a cab.
After about half an hour of walking, I arrived at the Zofri. The mall was huge. Every electronic item imaginable was on sale there, although the prices didn't seem that great. I meandered the endless corridors for a few hours until I got bored and decided to head back. The Zofri seemed a bit overrated to me, but then again, I'm not much of a shopper, either.
We had another barbecue tonight. Everyone got steak, chicken, vegetables, and wine. It was another great meal. A few hours later, we went to Kamikaze, the biggest dance club in town. Although we got there at one in the morning, it seemed pretty quiet. There was just a guy playing the guitar and a few people watching him. Finally, at around 2:00, the guy stopped playing and the dance floor opened up. We stayed there until about 5:00. This is a very late-night culture, a far cry from Bolivia, where everyone goes to bed as soon as the sun goes down.
On the way home from the club, the first actual bad thing of my trip happened. I was in a taxi, and my camera fell out of my pocket. My pants don't have very deep pockets, so things fall out a lot, but this time I didn't notice until I was in the hostel. The hostel owner is going to call the cab company in the morning, but I'm not expecting to get it back. Too bad I have to leave right away in the morning. The Zofri Mall would come in handy for buying a new camera.
