A Chile week

Discovery Magic's Blog
John & Caroline Charnley
Sat 21 May 2011 17:45

 

 

We have swapped our home for a different base each day; our boat for a car; seascapes for mountains and vast plains; the spring for the autumn; the sweltering heat for the cold and fog; the lush tropical vegetation to that of arid desert, where only irrigation makes it  green.  The sun goes round to the north. Few people speak any English, and whilst we have started to learn Spanish, we have found sign language very useful.  In the last three weeks we have come across just one other Brit.  

 

Now that might sound rather gloomy, but it’s not, it’s just very different. 

 

Flying in to Santiago gave us the opportunity to explore some of Chile’s capital. Its Spanish history is evidenced in some of the architecture, tree-lined avenues and wide pavements, which are so tailored for café tables and people-watching.  It is busy and bustling, has an excellent metro system, three universities and a thriving, modern business area. Yet it doesn’t feel like a European city and has quite an inward-looking rather than international feel.  Although there are clear differences between those who are of Spanish descent, rather than Amerindian, and there are immigrants from Bolivia and Peru, there is not the same diversity of people as you would get in a European city.  I felt very tall and foreign-looking and John was the only person on the metro with distinguished ‘silver’ hair!

 

With Chile being long and thin and its eastern border defined by the vast Andes, apart from the obvious direction of heading towards the coast, we had to decide whether to head north or south. It takes hours to drive a tiny fraction of the country and, with the autumn chill and shortening days we took a route out to the coast and north.

 

The guide book and tourist office spoke poetically of Valparaiso – a port, whose city was spread out over 42 hills and that promised colour, ethnicity and an experience of the true Chile.  It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

 

It took us at least 24 hours to come to terms with what we found. The Humboldt Current that sweeps up from the Antarctic often creates a dank fog over the coastline, draining the colour, making everything monochrome.  In 2009 Chile experienced an 8.7 earthquake and Valparaiso has raw scars where houses, perched precariously on a hillside have just slid into oblivion and walls and cobbled roads now have large cracks, with damaged pavements difficult to negotiate.  Many buildings are now merely a façade, with doors and windows boarded up. We were surprised by how much graffiti there had been in Santiago, but this town was extraordinary!  Graffiti is on everything: doors, fencing, paving stones, corrugated walls, rock, archways, steps, and much of it superb art.

 

Dogs are everywhere in Chile, but Valparaiso is the dog capital.  It is estimated that the town has 85,000 of them, nearly all of which live on the streets.  Although many are rather mangy, they seem happy to roam in groups, chase cars, lounge on the pavements and scavenge for scraps. They provide a whole new dimension to city life.

 

The guide book and locals warned us to be careful of pickpockets and that it was best to use a taxi late at night. The graffiti, the street dogs, the scars of the earthquake and obvious hardship, the eerie glow cast by the neon lights and the warning of danger made that first evening in Valparaiso wandering the steep streets in search of a restaurant a surreal experience! 

 

However, the next day we were introduced to Boris, who gave up a whole new perspective on the city and who left us feeling enriched by the experience of visiting it.

 

Boris, a Chilean ballet dancer, who gives ethnic cooking classes and walking tours, took us to a very special fish market.  Not only is the fish sold from the boats that have been hauled up on the quay, but, rather than seagulls wheeling overhead you have pelicans – perched on the bow, lined up on the railings, sat on the roof of the building.  Below the pier there is a colony of seals hoping for an easy lunch. It was fun that the fishermen were keen to pose, outdoing each other on how ugly or how slippery a fish they could find for the camera.

 

Boris introduced us to the delights of empanadas (similar to miniature Cornish pasties), which are a national snack and often the first course of diner. He explained that, with only about 4 days of rain each year, the school children will stay at home if it rains, presumably for fear of getting wet. He took us on one of the three funicular railways that are still in operation, and pointed out that there was now funding to have 10 of the original 14 funiculars reinstated. (Don’t forget the 42 hills here.) We saw a huge military parade – a practice run for the President’s arrival for the 25th May celebrations (which commemorate independence from the Spanish). Having previously seen the dross that epitomises so much of graffiti, Boris was able to show us some that is actually really imaginative, artistic and fun, and which gives vibrancy and a feeling of hope.

 

We drove the main (if not only) road north, about 300 miles and as far as the vineyard growing area of the Elqui Valley.  It seems that, due to the cold current, the coastal road is often shrouded in mist.  Yet the lack of rain, dry soil and rather unremarkable countryside makes it a rather barren and uninspiring area, with vast tract of land completely empty.

 

Yet in the areas where vines are growing, slightly away from the coast and irrigated by the water from the Andes, it is as though someone has switched on a light: there is colour, life and a bustling community.  The Elqui Valley was stunning, with vineyards carpeting the valley floor, the edges curling up in to the rocky slopes of the mountains.  It seemed that every bit of workable land was being put to good use.  The same was true in the Central Valley, only a much bigger scale, with long-established estancias and bodegas geared to receiving large numbers of visitors.  We had an enjoyable time exploring this vast wine-producing area (and tasting some of the wines of course) and were amazed at just how much new planting in going on.

 

Bus transportation is the way to get about in this vast country.  It is inexpensive and very efficient.  We took the bus on the seven hour journey over the Andes from Santiago in Chile to Mendoza in Argentina.  As we climbed, so each twist in the road gave us another striking view of these majestic mountains, the scale of which is hard to grasp.  

 

 

 

 

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