Fidelity

August 9, 2009

 

 Fifteen years ago –on November 3, 1994– Chile was the seat of honor for a total solar eclipse. The main passage of the eclipse was in the Altiplano (Far North) at half an hour from Putre (capital of the province of Parinacota) by the international highway from Arica to La Paz (capital of Bolivia), passing by the Lake Chungará (4500 m altitude). It was exactly that beautiful place where we had our coffee the resplendent morning of our journey. We kept our beautiful photos shot there as imperishable memory from that place, called precisely The Eclipse. I vividly remember the train carriage shining in a dreamy panorama, the sign of the restaurant (the train carriage!), and your wonderful silky red dress waving graciously in the wind. I did not experience the eclipse in the Altiplano but in Santiago, and it was fantastic and unforgettable. I love music, poetry and astronomy, and then I was in the Seventh Heaven having all three things together. It was great not only because of the privilege of seeing such extraordinary event in the heavens, but it was something I experienced with admiration, wonderfully beautiful and emotive, but also eerie, which affected me profoundly. Having suddenly night in the middle of a shiny day for one hour is overwhelming. It is easy to understand the sentiment and beliefs reflected in the Scriptures, History and chronicles of Humanity.

During the total solar eclipse that had its zenith by the Lake Chungará I promised to myself to stay in such magical place someday. I delayed five years in accomplishing this self-promise waiting for my True Love, till Stella Maris appeared as the supernova in my sky and we travelled there to render our bridal ceremony. We did it by a monumental expedition from August 4 to August 17, 1999, returning via San Pedro de Atacama, El Tatio, Salar de Atacama and Moon Valley. The zenith of our journey was August 9, 1999, at the Lake Chungará. It was a feat and landmark in our lives. My adored proved to be a goddess and the most wonderful companion ever dreamt. Since then Chungará became a Jerusalem for me.

Paso Jama was another sanctuary, as magical, far, and painful as Chungará, having to travel 5000 km and to climb 5500 m to reach the planet Mars. We went there a few years later and it was another landmark in our lives.

Then she returned to the heavens. Now her celestial light illuminates my path from there. Her light is also music of the Universe and drama. She is not anymore the dazzling sun but the diamantine Stella Maris. The Constellation of Orion rounds my home circling from the Andes to the Pacific in an angle of 45° (springtime), so it is natural to watch it. The Three Maries form the belt of Orion, and just by its right flashes unmistakably the Stella Maris (Sirius). It appears before the wall-window of my study room late in the evening, and thus She accompanies me every night. My devotion for her perdures in the glittery arm of the Milky Way. The years pass and pass; they will continue passing and She will continue being my glittery Universe.

The mill of time led me to consider Chungará and Paso Jama for a farewell of my own to life, materializing what I had planned for a second time on May 23, 2005, but we did not reach. I was doubtful if I would be able to carry out all the exertions, to drive 8000 km, to climb over 5500 m, overcoming puna, etc., just to have my intimate ritual. I wanted to reach especially the Salar de Tara, farthest point of Paso Jama, where I want to be spread in the wind after my death.

I had more reasons. One was the fact that the year 2008 attained a decade from our beginning. Other motive was that I did not have a photographic chronicle of our expeditions, so this was the opportunity to mend it. Finally there was the factor Bibi (my daughter). I wanted to present her with this adventure, possibly her only opportunity to get it, considering, among many other things, the fortune that it costs. Bibi came from Spain (Madrid) just to render it.

I planned the itinerary to reach Chungará on August 9, the 9th anniversary of my stay there with Stella Maris materialized, a sacred date in my life. Destiny wanted also that it was Tomasito’s day of birth. My journey extended the same as in the year 1999, from August 4 to August 19, 2008. Everything went fine all the travel, which had many dangers and exertions, and it was an unforgettable feat again. I was in perfect form and the highways were wonderfully kept along the 8000 km trail. The Samsung behaved as the winged cradle that carried Stella Maris all over Chile. The zero-fault Pegasus that blessed our adventures during 7 years, the wonderful SQ-5-Full that I had bought exclusively for her, was proud to repeat the journey for the last time.

The spiritual aims of my journey were very much blessed. There was summertime weather all the way, despite being Chile in the middle of winter. The route was the same of the year 1999, even if run partly by the coast, especially between Tocopilla and Iquique along 500 km of fantasy. The stops were our classics: Guanaqueros (our historic hideout in Andalué, with the good news that the lady was 100% recuperated); Bahía Inglesa (the new cozy house N° 18 outside the complex); Mejillones (our apartment N° 1 at the street level); Iquique (the luxurious brand-new 5-star Radisson Hotel); Arica (a nice bungalow among extended luxuriant gardens in the Valley of Azapa); and returning by the same path Iquique (which looked very much developed and beautiful), and the Ayllu of Tolanche in San Pedro de Atacama.

Chungará looked mystical and spectacular, wonderfully surprising, softer and clearer than when we stayed there nine years before, but similar as it was that “celestial” day of the total solar eclipse on November 3, 1994. Neither Bibi nor I felt any puna; paradoxically I felt better than in Santiago. At dawn it had snowed in the Altiplano, especially by Socoroma, Putre, the Payachatas, Parinacota and the Lake Chungará, but the sky was azure all the time for us. Chungará was a precious diamond, as Stella Maris remains in my soul. I buried her body there with music by Mozart, gorgeous flowers, sapphires, emeralds and rubies, as in the Great Pyramid lined with the Three Maries (belt of Orion), but her soul flew to the heavens to shine for me forever.

The Music-for-crying made the most sentimental descent from Chungará in a fantastic twilight, to have a greatly ceremonial coffee in the car at the Eclipse Restaurant (Copaquilla, 2700 m altitude), already illuminated by the scintillating Milky Way.

Paso Jama, beautiful and astonishing in its unbelievable, colorful and varied panoramas, was as glorious as Chungará, with the same crystalline blue sky, although Chungará has no comparison as for the planetary spectacle and greatly ample view. Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon), Salar de Tara and the Volcano Licancabur had fierce winds, so we could not stay much in the open air.

From the travel I brought 600 digital photos, most of them shot from the car at high speed, to tell the story. This is my final homage to Stella Maris and to our planetary love, my Only Love, my True Love and adoration, and here I date her for meeting again –this time forever– far from this Vale of Tears.

This insightful testimony tenderly cares for the bed of flowers and stars that once made us dream together about being united for eternity. [Download]

Watch the video [click]