Cowbright: A beautiful day in Coquimbo, Chile

We woke this morning just before docking in Coquimbo, a busy port city located on the Pan-American Highway in Chile.

view of harbor from our ship

view of Cruz del Tercer Milenio from ship

The Cruz del Tercer Milenio (Spanish for Third Millennium Cross) is a concrete cross that stands at the top of El Vigia hill. It stands proudly at 300 feet above the city.

We didn’t have an excursion planned so we took our time getting off the ship today. Ronnie was able to run a 5K on the deck this morning which made him very happy.

Coquimbo was another of the port cities that we visited in 2023, so we didn’t feel the need to venture too far from the ship, given I’m still not feeling 100%.

a beautiful day to eat on the back deck

The weather was beautiful, so after lunch on the ship we decided to just walk along the port and not go into the town. We probably hadn't walked over a quarter of a mile before we came to a busy market. It had booths full of touristy stuff (souvenirs, toys, clothing, etc) although it seemed like mostly locals shopping. As in many of these places, there were a notable number of stray dogs lying around.

had to literally walk around this guy

mate is popular here too

souvenir mate

We walked through the market (don’t make eye contact with a vendor or they will work hard to sell you something!) and then our noses told us we were approaching a fish market. Sure enough, there was a fish market with all sorts of offerings. There were also lots of little eating areas where families were enjoying a fresh seafood lunch.

Ok, what's the proper term for more than one octopus? Here's what I learned from AI today. "The most commonly accepted and preferred plural of octopus is octopuses. While 'octopi' is frequently used, it is technically incorrect because the word is Greek, not Latin, origin. Other acceptable, though less common, plurals include octopodes (derived from the original Greek) and octopods." You're welcome.