CHILE

COQUIMBO/LA SERENA

Wednesday, Nov. 18

After two days at sea we arrived at the first of 3 stops in Chile. We decided not to do an organized tour and took the local bus for $1 US each way to La Serena which is about 8 km away from the port. The bus driver was very helpful and made sure we knew which bus to take home. We had lots of help from non-English speakers.

La Serena is a popular holiday destination for Chileans.

We did not find our internet cafe or a salon for a pedicure and manicure, but did walk through a lovely park with a jazz band playing great music. There was the usual local market.

We are now into wearing warmer clothes as the temperature is dropping the farther south we go. Small cities, but clean. Coquimbo has these great winding sidewalks going up the hills.

We are struggling with our Spanish as few of the locals speak English, as it should be, as we are visiting them. Very surprised that the ship is not offering Spanish lessons and Barb´s books are still in her suitcase.

This is the point when we realized that the days were getting longer.

VALPARISO/SANTIAGO

Thursday, November 19

This was the off and on city for the cruise. The end for those that got on in San Diego and the start for the second part of our adventure for the ¨newbies¨. 600 people took the entire 35 day cruise!

Again, we decided not to do an oganized tour and grabbed a cab to the Plaza Sotomayor in the town centre. We walked around and discovered towering hills, a maze of winding streets and alleys, sloping staircases and funiculars. We took a funicular built in 1883 to the top of Concepcion, the historic centre which overlooked the city. What a view. We later discovered this is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are 15 ascensors (funicular) connecting the shore with the hillside residential areas. Some are in very poor condition and American Express has provided a cash grant to help maintain them.

From there we realized the port was very close and decided to walk back. We desparately needed to walk as our great plans to eat less and walk more were not becoming a reality. The walk was around 40 minutes which was fine with us. When we got back to the ship we realized that if the railroad was not directly in front of the port we could have walked into town.

November 20 and a very rough day at sea. Barb actually had to take a gravol.

PUERTO MONTT

November 21

This is a large fishing port but we took a tour to two cities created by the German settlers which are situated on Lago Llanquihue (Lake Yang-kee-way). Puerto Varas..City of Roses and Frutillar..little black forest. It was quite cold but lovely and definitely tourist places. Beautiful hotels on the lake with wonderful restaurants and a casino. Many people come here for vacation. Actually, there is a growing internationa classical music competition in Frutillar with a large new music hall being built on the lake and blocking the view of all sorts of local people.

The tour said 4 hours but by the time we got off the ship, were tendered into port, boarded the bus, etc., etc., etc., we actually only had about 20 minutes in each city. That didn´t give us much time to really see much, but we enjoyed what we saw. We did have time for apple kuchen and coffee. We also picked up a bottle of the local liquor--Pisco Sour--which is not lasting as long as it should.

Pisco Sour is claimed as the national drink of Peru. Pisco Sour is claimed as the national drink of Chile. Peru and Chile fought a war in 1941 - do you think it was over Pisco Sour?

Nov. 22 and 23 - 2 days at sea cruising through Darwin´s Channell, the Chilean Fiords and early on the 24ths cruising up the Straight of Magellan into Punta Arenas, the Capital of Patagonia.

We headed up the the Amelia Glacier on Nov. 23. WOW, just like Alberta in the winter... snow, ice and sunshine only not quite as spectacular as our Rockies, but then what can compare to those peaks. This part of the cruise is the South American version of the Alaska Cruise.

Today we are on our own again strolling through PUNTA AREANAS. We finally got our manicure and pedicure, found the internet and when done, we are off to....you guessed it...eat.
Barb finally broke down and bought a lovely alpaca cardigan - the first time !

Having a great time. It is turning into a real education as one realizes the world is upside down.

Every once in a while we stumble on an english speaker but we are managing to communicate anyway.