Valparaiso to Santiago

Thursday, March 14

Sunny and warm.

The cruise is over!  The ship docked in the city of Valparaiso at 5 am.  However, all the flights are out of Santiago, which is an hour and a half drive inland (121 km).  So 2800 people were all trying to find a way to Santiago at the same time. Celebrity was offering transfers to Santiago for $150 each, with stops at a mall and a handicraft village.  That didn't really appeal to us, and neither did being on a coach full of people.  So we booked a small tour transfer with Michael Arnold, the German Pirate (that's the name of the company LOL).  Our van had 12 people, and our guide was Christian.  One poor couple found out mid day that their evening flight out tonight had been cancelled.  But later they texted us and told us they got on another flight.

By going on Michael's tour, we were able to see much more of Valparaiso. Valparaiso means "Paradise Valley".  This city is the 3rd largest in Chile, and was founded in 1536.  Population 320,000.  Some of the original buildings have survived, but many were replaced after 1906 when a devastating earthquake levelled the city.  In fact, Chile has the record for the STRONGEST earthquake ever in 1960.  The needle broke at 9.5.

The city is called "The Jewel of the Pacific" because of its coastal location as one of the country's most important ports.  Valparaiso was built with absolutely no planning at all, so everything is helter skelter.

The city is VERY hilly!  It was built on 42 hills.  There are numerous funiculars that help with all the walking up and down.  We walked down Allegra Hill to Concession Hill, then took a funicular.

Valparaiso is considered one of the graffiti capitols of South America.  It's like an open-air museum!  People get tired of having their homes graffitied, so they paint murals on their homes.

The tour also took us to the beach/resort town of Viña del Mar. Viña del Mar means "Vinyard of the Sea".  It is the sister city to Valparaiso, and they actually touch each other. It is the 4th largest city in Chile, and is called "The Garden City".  

We had lunch at a nice local restaurant, and then Christian took us through the smelly fish market to the pier to see the sea lions who were hoping for scraps.

They have one of the actual moai statues from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), but Rapa Nui is asking for it to be returned.

Unfortunately, this beautiful city was devastated by wildfires just last month.  It took a week to get the fires out.  Two thousand homes were destroyed, mostly squatters.  The fires are often caused by people trying to release land from historical and environmental restrictions, or by the government trying to get rid of squatters.  Sadly, 131 people are recorded as having lost their lives, and 370 are missing.  We drove by large areas that had been burned.  The palm trees seem to be flame resistant, only the bark turns black.

We stopped at a winery in the Casablanca Valley.  Christian bought 4 different kinds of wine and we had a lovely outdoor wine tasting.

We were dropped off at our hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Santiago Airport Hotel.  The hotel is 5 km from the airport which will make flying home more convenient.  By the time we got here, it was 7 pm, and we just chilled.