MARCH´S FEATURED DOOR OF THE MONTH – TALTAL – CHILE

March 5, 2018 SouthAmerica

Tucked away in an unlikely small harbor in northern Chile, this tiny port city of Taltal has a fascinating collection of historic wood structures dating back to the sailing days of the Clipper ships. Like many beach towns, the color selections for painting the buildings are colorful and varied. Taltal has a population of only 10,000, and not many services. Located off of the main highway, one has to go out of the way to get here, descending a steep canyon down to the Pacific coast.

Taltal has two main hostels, and only one real restaurant in the Club Social Taltal, an institution in continuous operation since 1893. Any visitor to Taltal should make time to have dinner here, to take in the old English pool table hidden away in the back room, and to look at the large photo on the wall of Clipper ships berthed in the town´s port. Fresh catch of the day includes Seabass and Dorado.

Club Social de Taltal

The doors of Taltal are weathered in the arid climate and salt laden winds from the small beach. They have some of the grainiest textures of the Chilean doors that we have photographed.

The port town was once the gateway for a railway that shipped nitrite products down to the port, so several old railroad structures in town sit in disuse. From Taltal, a short drive south takes one to an even more hidden beach of Cifuncho, and taking the Ruta 1 dirt road north of Taltal leads one on a 4-hour coastal drive on some of the most remote and wilderness rich coast until reaching the city of Antofagasta.

Each time we have stayed in Taltal was a pleasure, to slow things down, sit and watch the waves rolling in, wander about the old buildings, and ponder the history that has moved through these old wooden doors.