Tag: Chile

Chile: More Easter Island Sights

JWF Leave a comment

EASTER ISLAND PART 2
On our second day we began with the local museum, MAPSE, which is funded at least in part by the Easter island Foundation. This small museum has an excellent exhibit on the history of the island and the arrival of the Rapa Nui along with a number of artifacts including one of the only moai that has female characteristics. The Rap Nui people are considered to be Polynesian in origin and culture. I was particularly struck by a panel that showed a map of the Pacific with the Polynesian triangle of Easter Island on the west, Hawaii at the point of the triangle, and New Zealand at the eastern corner.  Having been to New Zealand last year and to Hawaii in September, seeing this graphic was meaningful.

One of two moai with female characterics

After the museum, we toured several more moai sites with Chris. This time we began with Tahai, a site on the edge of Hanga Roa that we hadn’t seen on our brief walk the day we arrived. We actually were glad that we waited to visit it with Chris since he provided context for it, and we had learned a lot the day before which enhanced our appreciation.

What is especially noteworthy here is that one moai (a reproduction I believe) that stands alone has its eyes painted white. What a difference this makes in how you feel this king’s penetrating gaze! Archaeologists discovered fragments of white coral near some moai and have postulated that this coral was put into the deep eye sockets.  The moai you see today no longer have color in the eye area.  

 

We also visited a site, Vaihu, with what are purported to be seven young explorers (Chris debunked this, even though it was on the explanatory signboard), the restored village of Orongo, where we saw examples of the special houses used in the spring during the Birdman competition for the first egg, Ahu Vai Uri, a lone moai up the hill in some brambles (see header photo), and the mountain and crater from which the Rapa Nui dug out the red scoria stone for the Pukao or top knots. It was another incredible day, and we felt very lucky to have this whole Easter Island experience!

Supposed young explorers
Red scoria stone

Dining room at Hare Noi

At dinner last evening, we were about the only diners and began with drinks. The Chilean waiter, whom we’d seen on breakfast duty the day before, but not interacted with, was very chatty in an almost sweet way. We learned his name is Ignacio and, when he asked whether either of us had a cigarette lighter, he said that they were unable to light the kitchen fire to cook our dinner. We said no, but while his kitchen mates hurried off to get some sort of lighter, he then was able to make his lighting device work and the matter of dinner was resolved.

Lovely little shrimps in a spicy sauce

The Chief Penguin then joked that his name was significant and that he was an “igniter” and Prometheus, bringer of fire.   Ignacio also told us his nickname was “Nacho” and I replied I loved nachos which led to some more repartee. Humor exists around the world!

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Chile: San Pedro & Food

JWF Leave a comment

DAY 7

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Since we had the morning free, we decided to go into San Pedro and visit the Museum del Meteorito. (The hotel van drove us over, but we walked back which took about 45 minutes.). The museum is small, two tent-like domes and was surprisingly high tech.  

With an audio guide (in English), we made the circuit around the larger dome and heard about the meteorite artifacts that were in glass cases. Below each case was a video screen with a clip about what was in the case, how it got there and how meteors form and what their significance is for planet Earth. There were also wall-mounted posters in both Spanish and English with some of the same information.

The level of detail was almost that of an undergraduate course, but we did learn a lot and, at the end, got to touch some meteorite fragments which were explained to us by a resident guide.  

We then walked along dusty sandy, Tocopilla, the main thoroughfare in this town of 10,000 people. Here you find restaurants, shops, hostels, a gas station, and a very attractive church.  It’s obviously the hub for anyone wishing to explore the desert who is not staying in one of the hotels or resorts on the edge of town.  Just outside the business district is a section of homes for residents; like everything here, they are made of adobe, sometimes it’s adobe bricks, other times solid adobe walls, and even round adobe stones.  

We came upon several people in the process of adding tent-like upside down V’s to the top of their adobe wall. This tent shape is used to represent the nearby volcano.

Locals can have water delivered to square areas in their yard for their gardens, and if they don’t have their own wells, they may get water delivered to their own storage tanks or they purchase bottled water.

CUISINE
You might wonder what we’ve been eating the past few days. Overall, the food is creative and tasty.  Breakfasts here are done buffet style with the full range of hot dishes (scrambled eggs, bacon, cooked vegetables), an endless variety of breads and pastry, fresh fruit (usually pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, bananas, and cucumber melon, sort of a cross between cucumber and cantaloupe), and cold meats, cheese, and smoked salmon.

Lunch and dinner are a set menu with typically three choices for each course—an invitation to overindulge! One main course is vegetarian.  The soups are very good (cream of broccoli, cream of mushroom, vegetable with razor clams, e.g.), and we’ve had plenty of fresh fish such as corvina and swordfish plus baby octopus, fresh crab, and shrimp. The Chileans tend to eat more salads and fish and less beef than in neighboring Argentina, so we’re told.

Baby Octopus on Quinoa
Abalone on Avocado
Grilled Corvina and Shrimp on Puréed Black Beans

Today at lunch, the Chief Penguin and I both tried a special Chilean sandwich. It consisted of shredded beef on a hamburger bun slathered with mayonnaise sitting on a tomato slice, and topped with rings of chile pepper and thinly sliced green beans. The beef was tasty as were the accompanying potato wedges, but less mayonnaise was in order.

For dessert, there’s always a special cake of the day (carrot or Black Forest, e.g.), ice cream and sorbet, a cheese plate, and usually some fruit. Today the fruit was a thick slice of grilled pineapple in a syrup with saffron served with a scoop of a tropical sorbet.

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  Header photo is a patch of green on the outskirts of San Pedro de Atacama.

Chile: Atacama Desert, Day 6

JWF Leave a comment

EXPLORING THE ATACAMA DESERT
Thanks to the expertise and knowledge of Jordan and Kayli and the entire team at Knowmad Adventures, we have ended up in a fantastic place, Tierra Atacama. It is beautiful and the sunsets are unbelievably gorgeous, what I’d call layered pastels.  Located just outside the town of San Pedro de Atacama, the property is elegantly designed and landscaped, the food is excellent, and the rooms are comfortable. Included in the room rate is the opportunity to select one or more excursions each day.

Dining Room

We are at the high end of the demographic here (older, that is), and while we are in reasonably good shape considering, we have opted to do just a couple excursions during our short stay. I am not overly fond of high altitudes, but so far haven’t had any issues here at about 9,300 feet. We did nix a 6-hour excursion leaving at 6 AM to travel to geysers at 13,000 feet some distance away.

Given all of that, we had a wonderful morning with our guide, Mauro at the nearby Valle de la Luna or Moon Valley. There were just four of us plus the guide.  We stopped at several places to look around and take pictures and then embarked on a 45-50 minute walk or hike (what you call it depends on your perspective; for me it was a hike) up to several lookout points.  

Our guide Mauro

One of the few plants seen lower down.

The sand is several different colors from light tan to dark tan to almost black to matte gray, and has been sculpted by the wind and the infrequent rain into ridges and waves and valleys. In the distance, you can see the mountains and several volcanos, one of which is currently active.

Walking in from the parking area, we slogged through loose sand (just as hard as walking on loose sand on an ocean beach) and then began climbing up harder packed surfaces, not really paths, but already well trodden. We saw no vegetation from this point on, and it was beautiful and almost eerie and utterly quiet. The only sound was the wind.  

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).  I wanted to include more photos, but some of them were too large for this site.

 

Chile: In Transit North, Day 5

JWF 1 Comment

HALLOWEEN IN VALPO
Last evening we had dinner at a pizzeria cum pasta restaurant which was a delightful casual place. The chef won the award for the best margarita pizza in all of Chile and the chef jacket he wore for the competition is framed on the wall. The Chief Penguin had the gorgonzola and prosciutto pizza which was delicious (I got a taste!), and I ordered the penne rigate in a simple tomato sauce with basil, also very good.  

On the way back to our hotel, we encountered several groups of children out trick or treating and were touched by the sight of them, but also of an older couple, who were standing in their doorway, she holding a box of Halloween candy.

ONWARD TO THE DESERT
We left Valparaiso and headed back to Santiago for our flight north to the Atacama Desert. November 1st, Day of the Dead, is a big holiday and leads into a holiday weekend. The traffic in our direction was normal, but the airport check-in area was totally mobbed with couples and families with children, all heading out of town! It took 40 minutes in line to check in our bags and get paper boarding passes. Then it was another fifteen minutes or so to get through security. The sign said, “No liquids allowed,” but our driver had said bottles of water were fine. So we asked the airport staff member and yes, water was allowed.

Boarding was in groups by those needing special assistance,  then priority (both customary), but the next line was for those carrying only a personal item, and the last line (the one we were in) was anyone with carry-on luggage. Interesting approach. I don’t think it was any faster, but we did have overhead bin space for our items.

Calama was our initial flight destination. It’s the home of the world’s largest copper mine and leaving the airport, you first see rows of small stucco homes for the workers and all around tan desert and then a series of wind farms. We rode for about an hour and half and there was almost no vegetation except for some tufty tan grass and what looked to me like tumbleweeds as seen in the header photo.

The desert landscape was shades of tan, pinky tan, and brown with off in the distance soft lavender to mauve mountains. The sky was a pale blue with some bands of cirrus clouds making a layered palette of pastels.  Alas, I was on the wrong side of the van to  capture the mountains.

Only when we got to San Pedro was their greenery and plants. It’s a small town with rustic stucco and wood houses, a gas station, a few restaurants, and other services. It’s an oasis of civilization and probably, a real oasis since there was so much growing. Our hotel is located a short distance out of town and is a very attractive wood and stone complex with a garden (giant hollyhocks, lavender and rosemary abound) and marvelous views of the desert and the mountains.  

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is a view of the Atacama Desert en route to San Pedro.