[meteorite-list] Progress or ruination?

Fri Jan 9 12:01:18 EST 2009

All,

I am a bit conflicted with this  too.

However, to insist that a group of humans stay in a setting from a  couple 
centuries ago, like keeping apes in a fake looking jungle cage at the  zoo, just 
so we can go an see them "undisturbed" is a bit morbid.

Like  others on the list, I too have visited San Pedro de Atacama on my 
several trips  to Imilac in the past and really loved going there.  The old small  
buildings, narrow streets, broken glass bottles cemented into the tops of 
walls  around yards as security fences, were unforgettable.   

It was  an oasis compared to dry and desolate surroundings.

But, also as  unforgettable, was all the trash strewn about the highway for 
thousands of miles  up and down the Pan American highway.  Somebody forgot to 
put up the "Keep  Chile Clean" signs.  Litter was so abundant, especially at 
railroad  crossings.  Burned out cars and buses were sitting on the side of the 
road  from car wrecks years if not decades before.  What 99% of people saw 
when  traveling on the highway(s) of Chile was the trash, not the beauty.  You  
had to get off the highway before things would clean up.

So to me, my  hunch is that if there are high class hotels coming in to the 
San Pedro de  Atacama, my bet is that they will at least clean the trash up on 
and around  their own property.  They might even pay to have the other trash 
in public  areas cleaned up as well.  So in a way, the development might be a 
good  thing.  

And the situation with the residents there, imprisoned in  poverty, is sad.  
I am sure they, like most anyone else in the civilized  world would like to 
have a good job, be able to afford TV, a nice car, good  health care, maybe be 
able to send their kids off to college to have a CHOICE as  to what they want 
to do with their life.  
For those of us with enough  money to travel there, it is fun, but we get to 
leave and choose where we go  next.  To be stuck there for one's whole life, 
it might get to be a drag  after a while. If they can make a buck and improve 
their life, who are we to say  that is bad?

If I would ever choose to head that way again, either to  find rocks or 
simply as a tourist , I would probably choose to stay in an  overpriced nice place 
instead of an overpriced small place.  Although, the  places I stayed at a 
decade ago were quite modern considering; not mud floor  huts that the post cards 
would indicate. 

I for one can fully understand  why they would want to develop that part of 
the country for tourists.  It  is an amazing place and I am sure as word 
spreads more and more people would  want to go there.  I for one, have STRONGLY 
recommended that anyone that  has a chance, should go and see San Pedro de 
Atacama.  Not to mention, take  a fishing boat out to see the penguins on the way up. 
 Oh, and there is a  great steak house in La Serena.  And the vineyards, very 
much worth the  tours.  And when you are in Antofagasta, don't forget to wear 
your  seatbelts, they will pull you over and ticket you for that infraction  
alone.  And the Pampa area, words can't describe how desolate it  looks...and 
words can't describe how daunting the feeling is, in the pit of your  stomach, 
if your truck gets stuck out there.  And don't forget the Pisco  and Pepsi, 
when heading out to your campsite.  And, pick up some lumber in  the trash 
piles along the highway to make a campfire out of, or you will be very  cold once 
the sun sets and you are waiting for the Pisco to kick in!

Oh,  and did someone mention strewnfields?  Why wouldn't EVERYONE want to go  
there? There are meteorites to be found!

As far as the copper mines  growing and encroaching on people, I am sure 
there is room to get on either side  of that argument.  Some would argue that at 
least they are not killing off  wildlife in the process, since wildlife doesn't 
live out there to start  with.   If they force humans to scoot over a little, 
well, that is  what humans are good at, moving over.

I just hope they do what they do  with taste, and it allows more people to 
enjoy the beautiful setting that is  waiting for them in such a desolate corner 
of the earth.  If they decide to  trash the place even more, well, it wouldn't 
really surprise me, it is kind of  their tradition down there anyway.

Steve Arnold  #1
Arkansas

In a message dated 1/9/2009 10:05:16 A.M. Central  Standard Time, 
meteoriteguy at yahoo.com writes:
Sad, 
I was there on top of  that rock a few years ago. San Pedro de Atacama is a 
fantastic town, a little  like the wild west, with dirt streets, no water (all 
water is trucked in) and  dodgy looking people. I had more fun there than can 
be explained. To have  Hollywood types jetting down there to stay in a spa 
just sucks in my opinion.  The geysers were amazing, typical that man would 
destroy them to make more money  mining. Oh well.
Michael Farmer

--- On Fri, 1/9/09, Michael Gilmer  <michael_w_gilmer at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Michael Gilmer  <michael_w_gilmer at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Progress or  ruination?
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Friday,  January 9, 2009, 8:57 AM
> I have mixed feelings about this story  :
> 
>  
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1642444_1870349_1870342,00.html
>  
> I guess we'll be dodging errant golfballs and hearing
> cell  phones
> ring while walking around one of the more remote places  on
> the Earth. :(
> 
> I wonder if any of these wealthy  tourists realize they are
> visiting
> a famous strewnfield?
>  
> Regards and clear skies,
> 
> MikeG
> 
>  
> .........................................................
>  Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
> Member of the Meteoritical  Society.
> Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
> Websites  - http://www.galactic-stone.com and
> http://www.glassthrower.com
>  MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/fine_meteorites_4_sale
>  ..........................................................
> 
>  
> 
>       
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