South America #4

SOUTH AMERICA BLOG #4
November 27, 2008
Buenas Dias a todos,
Our return to sea level was just a plane ride but our arrival in Chile was something to write home about. The landing was picture perfect, our deplaning nothing unusual except that the stewardess told us we would need to stop holding hands long enough to go single file down the rickety landing steps, but customs left us with a memory to write books about. We did our usual thing with our carry-ons x-rayed and our bodies scanned for contraband. We walked out of the terminal into a late morning sun that was pleasant for the first few minutes until we realized it was hot and muggy. We boarded our bus and sat in our seats for the next two hours as rumors of whatever spun as the clock turned. The final story came out that two of our fellow passengers had fresh fruit in their luggage. Apparently that’s a no-no in Chile. The two ladies in question were interrogated, threatened with arrest, guarded by policemen with rifles at the ready as probable monetary fines were received by phone from some one with authority. The threatened three months in jail diminished to a shaking finger and the proposed $500 fine for each apple was reduced to whatever the tour operator agreed to. The culprits were finally released with a tongue lashing in Spanish which neither one understood. They ultimately entered our waiting bus with heads bowed and we were allowed to return to our Norwegian Sun vacation home. With free fruit delivered to our rooms for the asking, it was beyond the rest of us why the ladies thought they had to bring a few apples and oranges from Cusco.
Our quick trip from the airport to our ship moored at Arica, Chile gave us a new insight into South America. We passed hundreds of homes and dozens of multiple storied apartments that looked as though they could be transplants from Arizona or any of our southern border towns. TV antennas and satellite dishes sprouted from roof tops and cars were parked in front of well tended houses. We quickly decided that Chile’s economy was world’s apart from that which we had observed on our travels through Central America, Guatemala and Ecuador. We couldn’t see them but we were informed that several chemical processing plants were in the area that prepared for export Chile’s unending supply of nitrate products. This part of the world was the primary supplier of nitrates used in the production of gun powder prior to World War II when Atlantic shipping was vulnerable to German submarine attacks and other sources were developed.
Our stop at Coquimbo and Valparaiso similarly impressed us with the apparent difference between Chile and the other countries we visited on this trip. Our shipboard view of Valparaiso showed us well tended hillside neighborhoods with passable streets. Generally, the rule is that in underdeveloped and developing countries, poor people live on the hillsides and the more fortunate live on the flats. Here it appeared we were looking at the opposite and that which we would expect at home.
A “city tour” at Coquimbo gave us a good opportunity to mingle with the real people of Chili. Our guide took us by bus into the center of Coquimbo where we hit the streets and walked through town on a busy Saturday morning. It was interesting to walk through crowds of people who looked just like us but all spoke a a different language. Our walking tour took us by stores that looked just like those we were familiar with at Stoneridge Mall. The brands advertised were the same we are used to. The fact that most of the clothing we buy is made in the far east somehow made it American rather than Chilean. That reasoning soon seemed not as plausible.
Our walk took us to a downtown museum that displayed artifacts from the Inca period. For some reason we were surprised to find the place packed with local families describing the exhibits to their children.




We had to change cabins at Valparaiso due to a “goof” by the online travel agent we used. The change was a pain in the neck but the crew was more than helpful. We were able to talk the travel agent into a $500 on board credit to make up for our discomfort. Our new cabin was a tad smaller but with a much larger balcony and we were satisfied.
The Norwegian Sun was less than full during the first 19 days even though outside cabins were selling for less than $50 a day per person. We talked to a few passengers that had signed-on just five days before the November 4 sailing. We were pleased that our accommodations were less than half of book value.
Our first stop after Valparaiso was Puerto Montt, Chile. Puerto Montt is interesting and different because the Chilean government in the 1850’s actively recruited Germans to colonize the area. The town was named after the President of Chile at the time, Manuel Montt. The German immigrants found a climate and terrain similar to Germany and immediately found success as farmers. A railway into the area in 1912 increased the areas importance as did the introduction of salmon farming in the decade before 2000.
Local museums chronicle the history of the German immigration. Although a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the town in 1960, many historic homes still stand beside the town’s oldest building dating back to 1856. We hired a cab for our private tour of the area. We drove to Lake Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile, and a favorite vacation venue for Chileans. The lake is surrounded by the Osomo and Calbuco volcanoes and is fed by several streams that wind through nearby Andes Mountains. Beside the lake is a small German town, parts of which look like the homes in California’s Solvang. Older farm houses in the area look as though they were transplanted from Germany. Our return trip took us through Puerto Varas that faces the Pacific Ocean on one side and a beautiful lake surrounded by vacation hotels on the other. The beautiful spring weather during our visit left little doubt in our mind that this part of Chile would be high on our list for our vacations if we were Chilean.