Cowbright: Something smells fishy...

Iquique, Chile - Have you ever heard the expression "it’s like waking up in a different world” every day? I use that expression sometimes, but lately I’ve been literally doing it! Not so much in a different world, but in a different part of the world for sure!

So today is Sunday, February 5 and this morning I woke in Iquique (sounds like i-kay-kay), a port city in northern Chile. According to our daily “Currents” it lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. Iquique has a population of around 200,000. It was originally known for its saltpetre mining in the 19^th century. Also, Iquique has been devastated by several earthquakes (1868, 1877 and 2005) and in 2014 it experienced an earthquake of 8.2 on the rector scale. There's also a lot of history here which I won’t remember, and certainly won't try to repeat.

Although we didn’t have an excursion planned here, the city offers a free shuttle service from the port into its historic district, Arturo Prat Square. I decided to check it out but Ronnie has been nursing a sunburn so he stayed behind and did his own thing. Being early on a Sunday morning, the businesses, banks and restaurants were all closed so I just wandered around and took a few photos to help me remember the place.

A few street vendors were starting to set up, offering trinkets and other touristy stuff to visitors like myself. But mainly it was just folks milling around with cameras and that was about it. After about 30 minutes, I walked back to the shuttle pick up/drop off point to go back to the ship.

city center, Iquique

Chilean flag reminds us of TX flag!

what is this?

After boarding the shuttle, I overheard some women talking about the fish market. I knew it would only get hotter as the day went on and the likelihood of my going back would probably be "zero," so I hopped off the bus and headed for the fish market since it was only 3 blocks away. I'm sure I looked like "a stranger in these parts" but I didn't care. I had fun wandering along the dock snapping pictures of whatever caught my eye.

fishermen shooting the breeze

sea bird hanging out

sea lions and dogs hang out too

replica of the Spanish Galleon ship, Esmeralda

colorful view of Port Iquique, Chile

fishing any good?

view of fish market looking toward city center

Naturally I took way more photos than I can post here, but the photos don’t do the place justice. I wish I could have bottled up the smells and sounds as well but you’ll have to use your imagination for that. Anyway, it was worth my time to walk down to the market which was definitely the busiest place in town on a Sunday morning.