Adolfo Tapia Live Here (?)
The Spanish word pintados translates to painted in English. There are many references to the word, in one it is a war loving tribe known for tattoos. Here, it is the name of a deserted town on an abandoned railroad running roughly parallel to the Pan American highway. As we passed through en route to Geoglifos de Pintados, I captured these shots of the ruined town.
The handprinted sign above the window, top photograph, says in translation, “Here lived the Adolfo Tapia Family, 1940-1956, F.F C.C. del Estado.” Searches on Adolfo Tapia turned up nothing, all we know is the sign attributes the designation to the state government.
The hill of the geoglyphs are the background, some of the figures are visible. There will be more in later posts.
The railroad served the many Saltpeter factories dotting the Tarapacá region. To my knowledge all were closed in the mid-20th century.
Click any photograph for a larger view and use Ctrl-x to zoom in closer.
Click me for the first post of this series.
Copyright 2020 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 
I enjoyed these photos in the Atacama Desert, Michael Stephen. The sign is espec. engaging, and I appreciated the translation. Looking forward to seeing more geoglyph photos. Haunting place and haunting photos — well done.
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Good to hear from you Jet, your comments are welcome here. I have a few more posts left in this series.
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That looks like a very harsh and unforgiving piece of dirt to call home!
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Yes, must have relied on the spot as a transportation hub. Cheers!!
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