Elqui Valley

La Serena is a nice enough place but there isn't a lot to do in the city itself except go to the beach. Most people I've met here come here to do some combination of the following three tours: Humboldt penguins, Elqui Valley, and Observatory (this part of Chile is prime territory for astronomy). Well, I went with the first two (Bill, if you're reading this, I know, shame on me).

The Elqui Valley is an agricultural area east if La Serena. I took the tour with the same company that took me to see the penguins, thus getting a 2000 peso discount. My tour group consisted of me and eight others, six from Chile and two from Peru. So most of the explanations again were in Spanish, but our guide, Marcelino, was a Chilean who had lived in Alberta for 13 years and worked as a Greyhound bus driver, and hence spoke excellent English, so I got recaps. This time the van and guide belonged to the tour company itself instead of being subcontracted, and the problems of the previous tour (including the lack of seat belts) weren't an issue.

All along the way we got commentary on the crops growing along the road (90% of which were grapes) and some interesting tidbits of information such as how to tell whether vines are growing table grapes or pisco grapes (the latter are higher since they need sun, not humidity).


(These look like table grapes to me.)

Another disheartening fact is that almost all of the agricultural land in the valley is owned by multinationals such as United Fruit Company and Del Monte.

There were a number of stops along the way, including the towns of Vicuña and Pisco Elqui. We also got a free 15 minute stop at the Gabriela Mistral (Chilean Nobel Literature Prize Winner) museum. The most notable display there was a tree in the back yard that introduced me to a fruit I had never heard of before, the nispero (loquat in English). It's about the size of a large grape and has 3-4 large seeds that comprise about half of its volume.


In other fruity news, at one point we stopped in front of someone's house to admire a fruit tree growing there and suddenly a woman (a confederate of the guide?) came up to us and gave us a box of these:


They're called lúcumas. This article in Wikipedia has a picture of a somewhat bigger fruit (these are about the size of eggs) but otherwise describes accurately the taste and appearance. As suggested, I think it would make a good flavouring for ice cream. Perhaps I'll find it in Peru.

For lunch we were taken to a restaurant that cooks its food using the sun's energy--not solar cells, but ovens such as shown below. Apparently they can cook everything except French fries this way.


Here's another one showing how to boil water using the sun's rays.


The final stop on our tour was a pisco distillery. Here's our guide demonstrating one of the machines (used to separate the grapes from the stems and other gunk) that is no longer in use:

Gone to the beach

Since I'm at the so-called "thinking man's beach resort" I figured I might as well try out the beach, which is where I spent yesterday afternoon. I thought I would just go down there and sit down and read, but there weren't convenient places for doing that so I decided to walk instead. I knew it was a long beach so I thought I'd see how far I could go before getting tired (or tired of it) or running out of beach.

The sand is white (or maybe grey) and crunchy, thanks to the billions and billions of shells (oyster, I think) that litter it up to the water line. Presumably the live inhabitants of similar shells were providing occasional sustenance for the scattering of gulls and other seabirds that were hanging around. The beach was more or less deserted in the early part of the afternoon, even by foreigners. There were a few guys kicking around a soccer ball and the odd person actually sunning themself. The temperature might have had something to do with it: it was a sunny day but I was not too hot wearing a fleecy jacket over my t-shirt. The sun was deceptive though: I never had it in my face but I hadn't counted on it reflecting back from the sand, so I had a cheery sunburn by the end of the afternoon.

Anyway I walked a couple of hours south, which was impressive, not that I walked that long but that the beach didn't run out. In fact, I ended up in the neighbouring city, Coquimba, so I probably walked about 8km. The beach went on for a while, but by then it was time to eat and make peace, so I stopped and found a restaurant. After that I walked back to La Serena...a few more people were out and about by then.

October of the Penguins

Last night's intended update was postponed because I spent the evening chatting with a delightful young person (but not so young so as to make this creepy or anything). Then she took a night bus to some unknown destination (well, it was known to her, and she did tell me, but I wasn't familiar with the place). Oh well. Among other things, she unfortunately told me her story of being mugged in Valparaiso, so I guess the warnings I received there should be heeded.

On with the show. On Friday I took one of the "standard" tours from La Serena, the visit to the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve. Even though we are in northern Chile, yes, there are penguins, in their natural habitat. They're just little guys, and they're classified as "vulnerable". I booked with an agency called Eco-Tours (which is probably no more eco-friendly than any other, but anyway). It was recommended by my hotel, and their rate was reasonable based on what the tourist office told me: 21,000 pesos plus the rate for the boat (which ranges between 7000-11000 depending on the size of the group).

I was picked up at about 8.30am in a ~13 seater var, which was full. Everyone else in my group turned out to be Chilean, which was fine, except that it meant that about 95% of the commentary by the guide, who could speak English, was in Spanish. This would have been salvageable even, had the sound system on the van worked properly. The other thing lacking was seat belts on some of the seats, including mine.

It is about a two hour ride to the "port", a small community called Los Choros, about half of it on an unpaved road. So we got there, got a short lecture on the sea-birds to be found around the reserve, and got strapped into our life vests. Our group was large enough that the charge for the boat was 7000 pesos pp, making the total cost 28,000 pesos, or about $56 Cdn. The boat could probably seat around 20 people, and actually had proper seats, unlike some others I saw. The water was not rough, a few larger waves that made one's innards flutter a little. The ride takes about half an hour. Only one person was motion sick, and it wasn't me.


Anyway, to the reserve, which is on the island of Isla Choros; landing is not permitted--you have ride alongside. The first thing we saw were some sea lions sunning themselves. It looked like a pretty cool life, actually, though I'm sure it has it's pitfalls. They took but a passing interest in us. Next, the stars of the show, the penguins. Well, I was a bit underwhelmed: I was expecting a colony numbering in the hundreds at least, but there were perhaps ten at most standing around at this location--and they blended in with the rocks. But still, penguins, not something you see every day. So we stopped a bit to take pictures (challenging in a bobbing boat) and then continued on to see more seabirds. I'm not a birder so I have no real details here. There was another patch of penguins of about the same size as the first one, and another indolent group of sea lions.



Next we were taken to Isla Damas, a nearby island where you are allowed to land, though only for an hour. I enjoyed this part the most, because I got to walk around and take pictures of cacti and other vegetation. Too bad it was only for an hour. There were also some impressive birds that I took to be hawks of some kind flying around. I was surprised that in the midst of all this senseless beauty some people decided to swim instead (despite the sign saying that the beach was not suitable for swimming) or sit around and drink beer.



So then we went back to Los Choros where we were given a (late) lunch (included in the price of the tour). We got back to La Serena at around 6.30. I talked to a few other people staying at my hotel who had taken the same tour, and some seemed as ambivalent as I was (most of my quibbling was with the small number of penguins, not that anyone could so anything about that, but it was a bit of a letdown). I'm not sorry I took the tour, but I can't recommend it unreservedly.

The Club Unimarc tour

Since I have to be up early for a tour and my hotel doesn't serve breakfast but has a kitchen, I headed to Unimarc, a Chilean supermarket, for supplies. It's also a small way to connect with the culture; i could do the David Byrne experiment and eat the same groceries as local people and see if I start having the same thoughts. Maybe my Spanish would improve too.

The first thing I looked for and the one that took the longest time was yogurt. There was a profusion of brands and flavours, most of them unfamiliar (I don't know what chirimoya tastes like, so I did by a whole container of yogurt flavoured with it, though I'll try the fruit if I get a chance. I finally had something picked out when I realized that even though it was in the yogurt section and in a similar container, it was really some kind of "milk drink", not yogurt. Maybe just fine, but not-this not-that turned me off. I did eventually locate one that was yogurt, in a familiar flavour (vanilla!), and with bacteria. A litre of the stuff cost about 2 bucks.

Fruit was next. The produce section was surprisingly scanty. There may be a farmers' market somewhere in town that everyone goes to for that kind of thing, but I don't know where it is. What was on offer was none too cheerful either. I picked up some sorrowful apples and pears, and a few oranges that looked more human, er, orangy.

Next, bread. Three generic buns that didn't feel like they were made of spider webs. I noticed that the other people who were buying bread were taking it to a weighing station so I did the same. A light bulb went off and I asked the clerk if I had to do this for the fruit too. Yep. Good thing I noticed that, even if a bit late.

The only milk I saw was in the hermetically sealed lasts-a-year type of container, so that's what I picked up. And some slices of Gouda cheese.

I had been there earlier in the day and did some price comparisons but the only one I actually remember is that 750ml of Bacardi rum costs about $10.

Anyway my purchases (which did not include rum) came to about $8.

Off to see penguins tomorrow.

Serenity

After an 8hr ride ($15) on a pretty decent bus, I got into La Serena (or just Serena) at around 5.30pm. My hotel is called Maria's Casa, though I haven't met Maria yet. I've met Andres, who I think may be her son. It's somewhere between a hotel, B&B, and cabins. The hotel is at #18 on the street, and the numbering goes something like 20, 22, 1204, 18...wha? I'll have to get to the bottom of that. Fortunately it's well-marked and helpful strangers will point you to it if you look lost and carrying a big backpack.



This is the first time in many years that I've had a "shared bathroom" type of arrangement. It's working out so far. The place was recommended to me by the owner of my last hotel, and besides, I wanted to save a little money (the room goes for 9000 Chilean pesos, or about $18). My previous rooms were great, but even at $40 a night, it adds up when you're travelling for two months and are an economic deadbeat besides.

So today the Chilean miners are being rescued but there's no dancing in the streets or like behaviour, not here anyway. Serene indeed. Maybe that will happen when the last one is out of the ground. I went for a short walk around town and it feels kind of...Mexican (but without cartels) in architecture and ambiance. Not that that's a bad thing.

Update: Maria's Casa gets a thumbs up, particularly if you're a younger backpacker and/or don't mind in informal atmosphere. The staff are quite easygoing and helpful, and facilities such as the kitchen and internet are at your disposal 24 hours a day.

Viña del Mar--not so much (or: Not overpowered by Fonck)

Today started with a interesting discussion with the owner of my B&B on Chilean social issues and the practicalities of renting in Valparaiso (one of the aims of my trip is to find a place to settle for a while, but I have another two months to find it). Then I took off for a day trip to Viña del Mar, which is sort of Valpo's twin city, about 12km away and accessible by city bus.

Viña is known as a beach resort by Chileans but my guide book warned that tourists tend to find it wanting. Shrewd advice, in my experience. I started off in the main square and walked (in the wrong direction, of course) to my first stop, the Museum of Funk. Ok, not really, the Museo Fonck, a small anthropology and natural history museum. The prime exhibit was outside--a real Easter Island moai.


Inside there were a number of exhibits on the island as well as on the Mapuche--Chile's indigenous people. The second floor was the natural history part, which included, surprisingly enough, some specimens that occur only in Canada, such as the Canadian lynx. The highlights were a stuffed two-headed lamb, looking decidedly equivocal, and a detailed explanation on how to prepare shrunken heads (basically you scoop out the insides and fill with hot sand; rinse and repeat). It was not an interactive exhibit.

Next, in my continuing attempt to try genuine Chilean food, I headed to a shwarma restaurant where I had chicken in a pita. My guide book said it would be good enough to eat off the floor: I'll reserve that honour for my favorite TO felafel resto. The place was for sale (they said they were tired of it) with an offer to teach you how to cook the food. An opportunity for somebody.

I then walked to the Castillo Wulff, a small turreted folly by the water featuring indifferent paintings and where the best features were the glass floor that allowed you to see the waves rush in and out, and the pelicans roosting on the rocks outside.

There was a a decent-looking forested park downtown, but before I had gotten very far into it a security guard warned me that there was a danger of being robbed so I turned around and found my way back to my bus to Valparaiso.

So, sometimes when your guide book says there's no "there there", believe them. Or not.

Back to my quest for food, I finally got to go to Epif, a vegetarian restaurant in my neighbourhood that has been closed for the past two days. A black-bean veggie burger (including a garnish I wouldn't have thought off--green apple), a generous glass of house red, and for dessert a "sueño de chocolate" (chocolate dream)--a slice of chocolate cake/cookie with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Tomorrow I leave for La Serena, described as "the thinking man's beach resort". As Groucho Marx might have said, now bring me a thinking man. Or, even better, a thinking woman! The 8-hr bus ride will give me some time to catch up to the affairs of the Misses Bennet, Mr Darcy, and Mr Bingley.

A short review of Valparaiso

I've been here two days and a bit and I think I've done most of what I want to (if I don't count taking pictures in places I've been warned off of). This doesn't men that that's all Valpo has to offer--it's just that there's one level of commitment required for a tourist/traveller to "do" a place, and another level to really get to know it.

Here's a short synopsis. Background: topographically, Valparaiso consists of a flat port area and 42 cerros (hills). Because of this geography, there are a lot of winding roads, pasajes (concrete stairways up and down hillsides), and about 15 acensores (kind of like cable cars), not all of which are still in operation. Ok, to the average tourist perhaps 6 or 7 cerros are actually of interest (and the tourist map that you'll find everywhere concentrates on those). My experience was that really only three had any particular sites of interest, though there are good views all over.


Cerro Alegre (where my B&B is) and Cerro Concepcion are adjacent. They have a lot of attractive, well-kept buildings/houses, a lot of pasajes, and are endowed with a profusion of street art, which I'm pretty sure is considered an attraction rather than an eyesore.


The more you look, the more you realize that a considerable number of addresses are businesses: mostly hotels/hostels/B&Bs, restaurants, and art shops of one kind or another. Still, it doesn't feel like a tourist trap, possibly because there aren't a throng of tourists at the moment, but also because many places are fairly subtle about announcing their status: I was often surprised to realize "oh, there's a hotel on this street". Depending on your energy level, you can see most of this area in a day or so.



The other cerro that I recommend is Cerro Panteon, which consists of three cemeteries. Ok, maybe not to everyone's taste, but I'll point out that cemeteries here are not your grandfather's graveyard. There are elaborate above-ground tombs that contain several generations of the same family, and banks of "niches" (nichos in Spanish) that I would describe as "filing cabinets for bodies". Kind of like the morgues you see on cop shows, but in concrete. Rather peaceful places, really. Good for a couple of hours to ponder your sins, or whatever.



Some other things you might take in:

• Pablo Neruda's house (one of his three houses, actually--the poet was not a starving artist). A museum of his life and more or less a shrine restored to the way it was when he was alive, even down to the placement of knick-knacks (not as tacky as it sounds, really).
• Go up and down at least one acensor, more if you're a rail fan

• The area around the bus station has outdoor antiques (ok, junk and books) and flea markets
• If you want a safer look at the places you shouldn't want around, take the #612 bus past your stop. Things get more run down, but there's some good street art.
• If the weather were better I might have done a harbour tour

I have one more day here so I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it.