Days 19-20

January 23 – Day 19 – Coquimbo, Chile

The pleasures of Antofagasta were still in mind as we prepared to head off to Coquimbo. What would we discover today. We have no tour scheduled, so we will be exploring on our own. The Port Speaker, Frank Buckingham, has explained that Coquimbo is yet another copper city. That is, the bulk of its industry is related to the mining and shipping of copper. As a result, he told us to expect to find very little in the port area. He did say that the nearby town of La Serena had nice shops, churches, and squares. One could get there by taxi, but should negotiate the fare before leaving the dock, ask the driver to return to La Serena at a specified time for the trip back to the ship, and by no means pay him before being delivered back at the ship. Sound like hassle to you? It did to us.

So, upon leaving the dock, we started walking toward Coquimbo town center. We met an Australian couple who told us there was a bus that goes to La Serena for 500 pesos. We turned just in time to see one approaching and hailed it. The fare was 500 pesos each, which is about $1.10 apiece, each way. Half an hour later we were walking toward the cathedral in La Serena. It was beautiful.

Next to the cathedral was a handicraft market with some very nice items. We left them there. Next to this market was a large food mart. It was very much like being at home. Alice took pictures of many items with their prices. It will be fun to compare prices from city to city and home. Then we were off to the main square. Here was the usual monument, beautiful landscaping, a museum, city hall, and a large church. There was also a very large crowd of people using the park. This was consistent with the crowds at the handicraft and food markets. These were all Spanish speaking. We did not understand how so many people could be shopping or resting, but not working on a Monday.

We had an absolutely delightful day exploring and enjoying La Serena. We returned to the bus stop, and boarded the bus back to Coquimbo. Upon boarding, we asked the driver in our best Spanish “Coquimbo Puerto?” His “Si” was comforting so we settled in for the ride back. As we were winding through Coquimbo he called back to us “Puerto.” When we got off, we found that this was not where we had gotten on in the morning. We were some distance from the ship, but we could see it.

We worked our way down a steep hill and discovered the craft stalls that Frank had mentioned in his port talk. We meandered through the many stalls to the fish market and seaside restaurants. More memorable sights and smells. Bravo.

We retraced our steps and with the Prinsendam in view ahead of us we worked back to the town square just a block from the ship. Our memory card accepted a fair share of photos of the square, and we returned to our cabin with time to spare before sail away.

Our impressions of Coquimbo and La Serena are happy ones. We saw and did a lot, and all of it exceeded our expectations. Even the local stalls, that had been down-played, proved a source of pleasure and memories. We are glad to have been here. And we only spent $4.40 for transportation. Did I mention that we saw passengers from the ship’s tours at the same sights in La Serena. Whatever we save today, we will have for spending tomorrow!

January 24 – Day 20 – Valparaiso, Chile

As we sailed away from Coquimbo, the captain told us that we had a lot of sea to cover to make Valparaiso by morning. As a result he was going to put the pedal to the metal and cruise at 20 knots. That is almost maximum speed for the Prinsendam. We had been tooling along at just 10 knots until now. This meant that we would experience more motion on the ship. This would primarily be pitching, the rise and fall of the ship forward to aft. The ship’s stabilizers would limit rolling, the left to right motion. We might also feel some increased vibration because all 4 of the engines would be used.

After sleeping for 10 hours, Alice and I awoke to find us docked safely and quietly in Valparaiso. Increased motion?

The sun was shining, and the temperature was in the 70’s. After breakfast we headed to shore. Frank had warned all that the port requires us to take a shuttle to the agriculture inspection station about a mile away. He also told us about Viñe del Mar, which was reachable by taxi or light rail. The light rail stopped just outside the cruise terminal. It required the purchase of a plastic fare card, and the purchase of fares to be added to the card. We thought we would both need cards for 1,200 pesos each plus the roundtrip fare of 800 pesos each. The agent said we could both use one card, and saved us 1,200 pesos. Result, 2,800 pesos or $6.15 for roundtrip transportation for two to a lovely seaside resort at the opposite end of the bay from our pier. This was about 10 miles away.

We spent 4 hours there. We walked and walked. We saw shops, the downtown, residential neighborhoods, restaurant areas, churches, squares with monuments, the new casino, and, of course, the beautiful beaches. We were only sorry that it was so far out. We had to leave Valparaiso so soon that we missed the sights of the city proper.

Like our other ports in Chile, so far, Valparaiso is built on mountainsides that run down to the sea. In some places the streets are so steep that funiculars have been built to move people between levels. These are quite old, but safe. And they are cheap. We will have to do this next time.

Alice and I agree that this is a city in which we would like to spend more time. Another visit would allow us to get out to the vineyards and farm country. We would also visit Santiago, the capital of Chile. It is about two hours drive away.

We sailed away from the pier and out of the bay surrounded by beautiful buildings hugging the mountains and lovely beaches. We felt a little sad that our time was too short, but glad to have experienced what we did.

We really like Chile!