Corbeta Esmeralda Museum — Attraction in Iquique

The Corbeta Esmeralda Is a representation of one of the most significant ships in Chile's maritime history. A representation means that it's as close as possible to the original except it can't actually sail.

It does a pretty good job showing what warships were like at the time but for a full appreciation it helps to refresh your memory of the war of the Pacific, for example by reading the relevant Wikipedia article.

The ship is accessible through a guided tour and we were able to just join one as a spur of the moment decision but I've heard that in more touristic popular times, you may have to book through...

Fantastic replica of the ship and interesting museum with a very helpful and friendly staff. I stopped by around noon and, despite my limited Spanish, a worker there set me up with a self-guided audio tour (guided tours are only available in Spanish). This gave some interesting insight into one of Chile's important naval engagements during the War of the Pacific. I would definitely recommend a stop if you enjoy history! Afterwards, the fish market next door is also...

I loved the combination of old artifacts and modern Chile. You can get a good sense of Chilean history in one small delightful place. I mostly recall the area near the Sierras rather than the desert though the desert has the reputation of never having experienced rain in human history. Not sure if that is true of course but intriguing at least! Wonderful side trip (though a long...