Tag Archives: Chile

13 December 2019:
Iquique, Chile:
From Sea Level to See Level

By Corey Sandler

It’s hard to have more contrast in one day than we did today, and that’s an extraordinary thing. 

After a day at sea sailing north, we arrived early this morning at the port of Iquique in Chile, an uncommon sight in this place. They receive only about eight cruise ships a year here. 

And then I went with a group of guests from sea level– because that is where oceangoing ships generally sail– up into the altiplano, the high desert. About two hours drive brought us into the Atacama Desert and the spectacular Huasco Salt Flats.

The flats are at about 3,830 meters above the sea,  or about 12,565 feet.

We had a bright sun and tolerable temperatures and pink flamingoes and llamas and alpaca. Oh, and I took some pictures….

The altiplano is home to some of Chile’s abundant mineral wealth. It all began with saltpeter a century ago, used at first for gunpowder and then as a fertilizer. 

Today,  copper is king,  along with valuable metals and minerals including molybdenum and lithium. That last substance is an essential component of batteries for things like cellphones and tablets.

Our trip back to the port in the afternoon was delayed because of a convoy of some of the largest machines on land: mining excavators, gigantic dump trucks, and support equipment. 

They would make great beach toys. 

Here’s some of what we saw today:

The Cerro Dragón sand dune reaches to the edge of the growing city of Iquique, a reminder of how tenuous many of the coastal ports of South America are
The little town of Pozo Almonte sits at the foot of the altiplano, its history bound up in mining in the hills. The small place draws its name from the Battle of Pozo Almonte of the Chilean Civil War of 1891 between Liberal (Balmacedist) and Congressional forces. The Congressional victory eventually led the junta gaining control of all of northern Chile.
A monument to the men of Pozo Almonte who went to the mines…
and the women…

The Huasco Salt Flats (Salar del Huasco)

The Huasco Salt Flats, at 3,800 meters or 12,500 feet above sea level. The surrounding mountains reach thousands of feet higher, some capped with snow
The rumble of thunder in a place that receives very little rain

Rules of the Road

The copper mines built the roads into the hills, and regularly shut them down to move equipment

All content by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. If you would like to purchase a copy of a photo seen here, please contact me.

11 December 2019:
Coquimbo, Chile:
Well Off the Beaten Track

By Corey Sandler

As is typical for coastal towns in this part of the world, dawn arrived gray and cool. By midday, it brightened just a bit, and then–almost as if controlled by a clock–the sun broke through at 2pm. By 6 tonight, we can expect warmth and a rising wind.

Except for the occasional semi-tropical storm, local weathermen don’t have an awful lot more to talk about.

Viking Sun at the dock in Coquimbo, Chile

I went with guests on a trip up the coast to the market town of La Serena, perusing unusual fruit the locals call tuna, known elsewhere as prickly pear.

The region’s climate is somewhat close to that of the Mediterranean. Chilean wine is better known than their olives, but both grow up in the hills. A local favorite is aceitunas sin amargo, large black olives said to be without amargo or bitterness.

A vendor at the market in La Serena
The hilltop Cruz del Tercer Milenio (The Cross of the Third Millennium), with an observation platform up high, reflects the predominantly Roman Catholic background of Chileans. It stands 83 meters or 273 feet tall, which allows the Chileans to claim the highest cross of South America. (In case you were wondering, Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Hill in Rio de Janeiro stands only 30 meters or 99 feet tall. And in any case, it’s a statue, not a cross.)
At the other side of the bay, seen to the right in this photo, is a handsome mosque constructed by the Kingdom of Morocco as a cultural offering; there is only a very small Islamic population here. The minaret is modeled on the famed Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, Morocco
The afternoon sun fills the Explorers Lounge aboard ship in Coquimbo

All content copyright 2019-2020, Corey Sandler. To obtain a copy of any photo, please contact me.

The content of this blog is entirely mine, and is not endorsed or approved by any cruise line or other entity.

10 December 2019:
Valparaiso, Chile:
The Clock with No Hands

By Corey Sandler

Viking Sun was one of the largest structures in town on our visit to Valparaiso, the Valley of Paradise. The town was lively and happy to see us, although signs of recent civil disturbances were there to remind us of recent parlous times.

Viking Sun at the dock, seen from Valparaiso’s Sotomayor Square. The central statue commemorates what Chile considers its greatest military achievement, the War of the Pacific, the defeat of Peru and Bolivia in the Atacama Desert east of 1879-1883. Peru lost its southernmost territory to Chile…and with that came massive deposits of copper that today is part of the backbone of modern Chile. Bolivia, which allied with the losing side, lost its only outlet to the sea. The war is long over, but the three countries remain somewhat short of cordial in relations, or at least in their view of history.
The famed Floral Clock of Viña del Mar is currently a clock with no hands in the midst of Chile’s season of social and political protests, mostly in the big cities of Santiago and Valparaiso. The mostly young protestors object to economic conditions that tilt in favor of the very rich, alleged corruption that favors officials in the government, and other problems in a country with a still-fragile democracy.
A tough way to earn a living: street buskers juggle, dance, and perform acrobatics at intersections.
At the eclectic Fonck Museum in Valparaiso stands one of only three Easter Island moai located away from the remote island. Easter Island is today part of Chile, although it is about 2,000 miles or 3,000 kilometers to the west in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean.

All content copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

9 December 2019 to 4 January 2020:
Valparaiso, Chile to Los Angeles:
Crossing the Equator on America’s West Coast

By Corey Sandler

We flew south all through the night from New York to Santiago, Chile. We left the wintry East Coast of the United States and landed in summery South America.

Viking’s Viking Sun will spend the next 28 days heading northwest and then north, calling at ports in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and then San Diego and Los Angeles in the United States.

This is just one month in a record-setting eight-month-long World Cruise. We will cross the Equator as we sail along the appropriately named nation of Ecuador. In fact, across the eight months of this cruise, this ship will cross the Equator four times heading south then north then south then north again. A hearty few dozen guests will be aboard for the entire journey, while others will partake of various segments.

I’ll be posting photos and comments here throughout this cruise. I hope you’ll join me here.

8 November 2017:
Garibaldi Glacier and the Avenue of Glaciers:
The Grand Procession

By Corey Sandler

All day today, under fair winds and blue skies, Silver Muse passed from Punta Arenas, Chile into the Ballenero Channel and the the Brazo Noresta (Northwest Arm) of the Beagle Channel enroute to our next port of call, Ushuaia, Argentina.

In doing so we made a side journey into the Agostini National Park to take a peak at Garibaldi Glacier.

And then we returned to the Beagle Channel for a grand procession alongside the Romanche, Alemania, Francia, and Italia glaciers.

The good news is that this is one of most spectacular places on the planet.

The less-than-good news is that everywhere we looked we could see how much the glaciers have retreated and shrunk. And the relatively warm weather and sparkling blue skies we experienced were nice for us, but not so much for the health of the glaciers.

The last of the major glaciers, much to the satisfaction of our Italian captain Marco Sangiacomo, was the most attractive of them all and in relatively good shape. Putting on a Bella Figura, you might say.

The Italia Glacier saluted us with a large calving of ice, sending a boom across the channel.

All photos copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved.

7 November 2017:
Punta Arenas, Chile:
In the Footsteps of Shackleton

By Corey Sandler

We’ve almost reached bottom.

Punta Arenas, Sandy Point, is the capital of Chile’s southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena.

Punta Arenas is on the Brunswick Peninsula north of the Strait of Magellan, mostly uninhabited except in and around the city, part of Chilean Patagonia.

GHOSTS IN THE CHANNEL

Monday afternoon, we sailed down the south arm of the Smyth Channel, a place that has been seen by uncounted thousands of ships passing to or from the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.

The Kawésqar people lived along its coast for thousands of years.

But very few humans have left footprints on the mountains on both sides and with the exception of a few buoys, we saw nothing to tell us of our modern times.

Smyth Channel. Photo by Corey Sandler

Smyth Channel’s south arm is a continuation of the Sarmiento Channel.

Its north entrance is in the Nelson Strait at 51°36′10″S 74°48′12″W, between Charlton Cape and the western extreme of the Lobos Islands. Its southern end is at Manuel Rodriguez Island and Merino Peninsula on the mainland, where it opens into the Strait of Magellan.

As I mentioned, this channel has seen many ships—from dugout canoes to Spanish and Portuguese ships of exploration to sailing vessels to cruise ships. Not all of them made it all the way through.

At its southern end lie the wrecked steamships MoraledaMagadaPonte Verde, and Recreo.

SANTA LEONOR AT REST

And just short of the Strait of Magellan, at Shoal Pass, is the wreck of the SS Santa Leonor.

SS Santa Leonor. Photo by Corey Sandler

The ship entered service as the USS Riverside in 1944 during World War II.

The steel ship of 8,007 gross registered tons (GRT) was 150 meters or 492 feet long, and 21 meters or 69 feet wide. As first built for the US Navy she could carry 1,740 passengers or troops and 575 crew.

A Bayfield-class attack transport, she delivered troops to the battlefront in Asia and also served as a transport for wounded from Pearl Harbor back to California. She also sailed to Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines, and Korea.

Decommissioned in 1946, she was sold to Pacific Argentina Brazil lines and renamed SS P&T Forester and then to Moore McCormack Lines in 1957 as SS Mormacwave.

In 1966 she was sold for the final time to Grace Lines and SS Santa Leonor.

At the time of the accident she was travelling from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Vancouver, Canada with just a skeleton crew aboard.

A GOOD REASON TO SAY “STARBOARD” OR “PORT”

One way or another, the accident was the result of a navigational error.

An oft-repeated story—which may have some truth embedded in it—is that the captain and a Chilean pilot were having a conversation on the bridge as the vessel approached the narrow Shoal Pass.

According to the story, the captain finished his conversation by saying, “All right, pilot.”

And the helmsman responded by applying full right rudder, which sent the ship onto the island at full speed.

SS Santa LeonorPhoto by Corey Sandler

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE

Magallanes is the Spanish version of the name of Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who sailed for Spain. While on his circumnavigation of the earth, he passed close to the present site of Punta Arenas in 1520.

Later came  Charles Darwin, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Ernest Shackleton.

The Beagle in the Straits of Magellan

Punta Arenas

Darwin came aboard the second visit of The Beagle, a brig-sloop of the Royal Navy.

Darwin’s observations on the round-the-world voyage helped form his scientific theories and made Beagle one of the most famous ships in history.

Darwin had his first sight of glaciers when they reached the Beagle Channel in January 1833, and wrote in his field notebook,

“It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow.”

The city of Punta Arenas was originally established by Chile in 1848 as a tiny penal colony, mostly as a placeholder to maintain a claim to the isolated piece of land.

Punta Arenas grew in size and importance as shipping traffic increased, starting with the first wave of Gold Rushers from the United States and elsewhere beginning in 1849, moving down and around the bottom of South America and then back up to California.

Punta Arenas. Photos by Corey Sandler

Punta Arenas, although exposed to storms, was considered one of the most important ports in South America before the construction of the Panama Canal, for resupply of food and coal.

Punta Arenas is about 1,418 kilometers or 881 miles from the coast of Antarctica.

That is the reason the explorer Ernest Shackleton made Punta Arenas his base in 1916, as he planned the rescue of his crew from Elephant Island.

And that is why today it continues as one of the principal connections to Antarctica for the international research stations there.

A supply ship for the American research station in Antarctica

We also took a stroll to one of our favorite unusual spots in South America, the Cemetery of Punta Arenas.

And finally, we strolled through the fascinating old museum established by the Silesian missionaries of this region, with a collection of artifacts of the native peoples as well as industries of the area including whaling stations.

We are off tonight for a trip into the Beagle Channel and into the Agostini National Park for an up-close visit to the Garibaldi Glacier and later a procession along the Avenue of Glaciers.

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

4 November 2017:
Laguna San Rafael, Chile:
Where Glacier Meets the Sea

By Corey Sandler

Early Saturday morning we sailed into Laguna San Rafael, formed by the retreat of the substantial San Rafael Glacier.

We made our approach during the night and early morning along a 16-kilometer or 10-mile-long fjord.

The fjord is part of the huge Laguna San Rafael National Park of 17,420 square kilometers or 6,726 square miles.

The Northern Patagonian Ice Field is a vestige of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, an extensive ice sheet that covered all of Chilean Patagonia and the westernmost parts of Argentine Patagonia during the quaternary glaciations, the most recent of five ice ages identified in the history of the earth.

Northern Patagonia Ice Field

Quaternary glaciations began about 2.5 million years ago and exist until today.

Today, its glaciers are largely in retreat, but still cover 4,200 square kilometers or 1,600 square miles.

The ice field has survived because of elevation, as much as 1,500 meters or 4,900 feet, and a cool, moist, marine climate.

The ice field has 28 exit glaciers, the largest two—San Quintin and San Rafael—nearly reach sea level.

Laguna San Rafael. Photo by Corey Sandler

Laguna San Rafael. Photo by Corey Sandler

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

3 November 2017:
Puerto Chacabuco, Chile:
Volcanoes, Glaciers, Rivers, and Forest

By Corey Sandler

In the morning we turned left from the Pacific Ocean to travel about 45 miles or 70 kilometers inland on the Aisén Fjord.

The fjord runs east-west, connecting to the Pacific Ocean via the Darwin Channel.

The entire length of the fjord is affected by a strong tidal rise and fall of as much as 8 meters or 26 feet.

At the head of the fjord is Puerto Chacabuco, the main regional trading port, and a port of call for ships sailing to the Laguna San Rafael National Park.

Until 1991, the local port had been on the other side of the fjord, at Puerto Aisén about 4 kilometers or two-and-a-half miles further up the Aisen River.

Human interference with nature—major burning of the Patagonian forests to create agricultural land caused major erosion and silting into the Aisen River and the eruption of the Mount Hudson volcano in 1991 put ash into the same river.

As a result, the port had to be moved closer to the coast where Puerto Chacabuco now stands.

Back to Hudson for a moment: when the volcano let loose in 1991, it was one of the largest eruptions in the twentieth century, a Plinian eruption that let loose 3 cubic kilometers or nearly 1 cubic mile of dense rock and other material.

Mount Hudson

Although no one died, most of the farms in the area were buried under ash and the upper reaches of the river Aisen was filled with material.

The reason you might not have heard about this particular volcanic event was that it took place not long after the massive Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines which was—in relative terms—easier for the world’s media and scientists to cover.

I went with guests today on a visit to the Rio Simpson National Reserve and then beyond to the interior of northern Patagonia.

Here is some of what we saw:

A week ago, in Arica, Chile I saw a flower unlike any I had seen before. I still don’t have a definitive answer but the consensus seems to be some sort of thistle.

Here is that flower once again:

Today I saw something that at a distance looked like a cousin. But I know its name: firebush.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

2 November 2017:
Puerto Montt, Chile:
Heading Down and Around

By Corey Sandler

Benvenuto.

We’re off on the second leg of our circumnavigation of South America. On this voyage we’ll continue down the west coast of the continent with a few forays into the wondrous fjords and straits of Chile and then across the pointy bottom near Cape Horn before turning back to the north and beginning our trip northward.

Here’s our plan:

Silversea voyage 6722 from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires

The Osorno and Calbuco Volcanoes from Our Ship at Anchor in Puerto Montt. Photos by Corey Sandler

We are aboard an Italian ship with a crew from Europe, the Philippines, and many other places, having departed the United States with a ship’s complement of Brits, Aussies, Americans, Europeans, and nearly every else.

All of which is appropriate as we head into Chile, Argentina, and Brazil which each have been greatly influenced by immigrants and outside powers. Spanish, British, German, French, Italian, and Croatian among them.

Artisans market, Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt is a fairly large community, nearly 200,000 in population, and by some accounts the fastest-growing city in Chile.

And it has a different story, with a history that only dates back to about 1853.

It was not a place established by the Spanish, but instead a purpose-built port and city created as a gateway into the interior at the southern end of the Central Valley.

From 1850 to 1875 this region encouraged the immigration of about 6,000 Germans.

Chile feared that its sparsely inhabited country—especially to the south—could come under control of foreign European powers seeking to establish new empires.

Across the nation, according to one estimate, about 500,000 Chileans have some German ancestry out of a total population of about 18 million.

The presence of the Germano-chilenos caused some complications and shades of gray in the leadup to World War II and the postwar years.

Today Puerto Montt’s cultural heritage mixes Chiloé culture with German heritage.

I went with guests on a wondrous journey from Puerto Montt to Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park for closer views of Volcan Calbuco and the Petrohué Rapids.

Puerto Montt

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

31 October 2017:
Valparaiso, Chile:
A Steep Climb to Paradise

By Corey Sandler

Valparaiso gets it name from Old Spanish, the Valley of Paradise.

It would be easy to make a weak joke about Paradise Lost, or Paradise in Shambles…because the city of today is not exactly how many would describe a perfect, idyllic place.

But Valparaiso does have its charms, not the least of which is an exuberant embrace of color and art and resilience.

Valparaiso. All photos by Corey Sandler

The city is built into something on the order of 42 distinct hills, most of them rising very steeply from the waterfront.

Today Valparaiso celebrates its history of diversity, its colorful buildings, and the many murals created by graffiti artists on the streets, alleys, and stairways.

It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, for slightly unusual reasons, its “improvised urban design and unique architecture.”

And before that, in 1996, the World Monuments Fund, a non-government non-profit, declared Valparaíso’s unusual system of funicular lifts one of the world’s 100 most endangered historical treasures, in the company of Venice, the Nineveh and Nimrud Palaces of Iraq, and the Taj Mahal.

One of them is a steam-powered elevator to paradise.

Today I went with a group of guests on a trip up into the hills to visit the beautiful El Cuadro vineyard and winery.

On our way there, we passed by the Fonck Museum in Vina del Mar and paid homage to a Moai, one of the great stone figures from Easter Island, part of Chile 1,200 miles to the west.

EL CUADRO WINERY

For those guests leaving us here in Valparaiso, safe travels until we meet again. Arrivederci.

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

30 October 2017:
Coquimbo, Chile:
Quiet and Serene

By Corey Sandler

We’ve arrived at the waist of Chile, the slimmest part of the long and narrow nation.

The name Coquimbo comes from a Diaguita word meaning ‘place of calm waters’.

And when the naturalist Charles Darwin arrived in 1835, after his visit to Tierra del Fuego and just before his historic visit to the Galapago Islands, he wrote that the small town was “remarkable for nothing but its extreme quietness.”

Therefore it makes perfect sense that Coquimbo quietly merges with a neighboring city along the coast: La Serena.

Serena, as an adjective, means serene. As a noun, it refers to the soft evening dew.

Quiet, calm, and serene—with the exception of a long-ago history of pirates, and an everyday concern about an active earthquake fault.

SUNSHINE ON COQUIMBO

ABELONE AND FRESH FISH

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

28 October 2017:
Arica, Chile:
The Far North

By Corey Sandler

Over the years, I have come to realize that not every person walks about with a map of the world in their head, backed up by a collection of atlases back home. That would describe me, but I’m the first to admit that I am ever-so-slightly different from others.

SILVER MUSE IN ARICA

I don’t mind being the personal navigator for all who travel with me. I enjoy the mental gymnastics.

So, to set the stage: as we head down the coast of South America, we have now progressed from the deep south of Peru at Matarani to cross the border and arrive at the far north of Chile and the port city of Arica.

That part is fairly obvious. One complexity is that Chile also reaches to the bottom of the continent, so in a few days we will be making a left turn to the easternmost part of the country, at Tierra del Fuego, which touches the southernmost piece of Argentina.

And then after we round the bottom, our navigation will be the other way around, heading northeast to the Falkland Islands and then northward up the coast to Uruguay and back to the eastern shoulder of Argentina.

Stay with me for details…

Arica is just 11 miles or 18 kilometers south of the border with Peru, at the bend of South America’s western coast known as the Arica Elbow.

It got that way as the result of the Pacific War between Chile and the Peru/Bolivia; the Chileans won, and expanded their territory north and inland.

People settled at the Elbow is that this is where two lush valleys converge: the Azapa and Lluta.

FISHING BOATS IN ARICA HARBOR

Today I went with guests on a trip to see some of the geoglyphs of the Azapa valley, including La Tropilla, interpreted to be a depiction of a trading caravan from the Andes headed to the coast with a load of wool, potatoes, and charqui to trade. Charqui was salted and air dried meat…say the word a few times and you will see the origin of the English word jerky.

GEOGLYPHS OF THE AZAPA VALLEY

From there we proceeded to the Museum of San Miguel de Azapa which includes some of the finest artifacts of the ancient Chinchorro people. The mummies of the Chinchorro are believed to be the oldest in the world, as old as 8,000 years–the mummies of Egypt are about 3,000 years old.

MUSEUM OF SAN MIGUEL DE AZAPA

The grounds of the museum were beautifully landscaped. I’d welcome an identification of the flowers below:

The city of Arica includes some handsome colonial structures as well as two buildings designed by the engineering firm of Gustave Eiffel in Paris and shipped here for reconstruction. Here is the St. Mark’s Cathedral, made of iron:

All photos and text Copyright 2017 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS,  PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS