Coquimbo means
“Place of Still Waters,” and the name came from the beautiful quiet bay upon
which the city overlooks. These calm waters are the result of the ocean winds and
currents being almost non-existent off the coast and of the air basically
blowing up and away from the area.
Indigenous
peoples used the natural harbor as a port long before the Spanish conquerors
arrived, and today is an important export center for gold and copper. It has
two major wharves with a total length of 1240 feet, and an alongside depth of 33
feet.
The south side (foreground) of the bay is well-protected from the sea
by an extension of land of the La Gruta Peninsula (Grotto), at Punta Tortuga
(Tortoise Point) and along the Fuerte (Fort) coastal area into the bay. La
Senena is along the north side of the bay, with Elqui Valley to the east of La
Serena
Cloquimbo is surrounded by land with
natural richness from mountains to the sea, and is 7.4 miles from La Serena,
the argricultural center of central Chile. 1.2 miles to the south, on the other
side of the Peninsula, is La Herradura Bay, and smaller, but extremely well
protected bay, with calm waters used today for swimming, diving, and
windsurfing. On the north side of Coquimbo Bay is Las Tacas, a beach of fine, white sand that slopes softly
to the sea, and is a surfing, diving, and sailing center. The weather here is
remarkable, with calm, warm air nearly year round, and shirt-sleeve nights,
much like Southern California.
Left: La Serena looks much like Southern California with its palm trees
and mild, Mediterranean Climate; Right: Elqui Valley stretches in between two
low mountain ranges moving east away from La Serena
La Serena (The Serene One) is located
on ocean terraces visible from the coastal area, and the vibrant Elqui Valley,
a geographic configuration, which is unique in the world, would be to the east.
The latter is a narrow, but fertile strip of land where vegetables, papayas,
lucuma, cherimoya trees (custard apple), and grapes grow alongside the
hillsides, covered with cacti, of the semi arid desert. The river Elqui
provides irrigation for this fertile valley, where vineyards of Mosfcatel and
Torontel grapes are made into Pisco, the local drink, and the valley is full of
an abundance of fruit, vegetables and vines under full sunshine and clear
skies.
According to the Continental Shelf Resewarch and the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric
Sciences, the Bay of Coquimbo receives seasonal freshwater discharge that
makes it behave as a low-inflow estuary, similar to those of a Mediterranean
climate. Its estuarine conditions make the bay, calm, sheltered and shallow,
and as such, a favorite site for human settlement.
A ship “driven forth before the wind” would approach Coquimbo Bay from
the south and, rounding Point Tortuga, would enter the Bay from the West, and
would be immediately protected from any winds or sea by the point. The ship
would probably land somewhere around present-day Port Coquimbo (arrow), or
further in toward the beach
Coquimbo Bay lies between two prominent points, on the north by Punta
Teatinos (or Teatinos Point) and to the south by Punta Tortuga (or Tortuga
Point), which points play an important role in shaping the flows that enter and
leave the bay. The mean depth is approximately 80 feet and slopes gently to a
maximum depth at the entrance of about 165 feet. The tides vary in a range of
about 3 feet, with winds predominantly from the southwest throughout the year,
though in June and July a wind from the north, though light, is about equal in
strength. The temperature of the waters in the bay is best described as warm
year round.
Point
Teatinos, on the north of Coquimbo Bay, looking southeast toward La Serena. The
opening into Elqui Valley is on the left background in front of the mountains.
Pt Teatinos is basically a lartge rock outcropping that juts out into the sea,
forming the northern end of Coquimbo Bay
Along a
4,000 mile rugged coastline, with surf that seems to explode against
the rocks lying at the feet of high bluffs, a more perfect place to land a ship in 600 B.C. could not be found. Here
the temperatures averages 65º F in La Serena, with an
average low of 52º F, with January and February the hottest at 72º F, and June
through August at the lowest 46 to 48º F. The rainy season is May through August
at about 0.5 to 1.22 inches per month, for a total of 3.78 inches per year.
A rather ideal place for the Lehi
Colony to land and set up their first community. The weather was perfect for
them to survive the first winter in a new land, the Mediterranean Climate and
soil types provided the perfect place to plant their seeds "brought from
Jerusalem," and the fishing was ideal, with the upwelling of waters from the
Humboldt Current making it one of the greatest fishing troves in the world.
The
Humboldt Current is a large Marine Ecosystem, and one of the major upwelling
systems in the world, supporting an extraordinary abundance of marine life,
which produces 20% of the world’s fish catch. Pelicans thrive here all year
round as the fish come to the surface for easy pickings
How did Frederick G. Williams know?
Maybe what he wrote about Lehi landing at the 30º South Latitude in Chile was
more than just his doodling on a piece of paper as almost all other Land of
Promise Theorists would have us believe.
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