Iquique, Chile

Iquique (Spanish pronunciation: i'kike) is a port city in northern Chile. We arrived a little before daylight and took our time getting off the ship. A shuttle took us into town and dropped us off at the main square. I was there in 2023 on a Sunday and it looked pretty much abandoned except for the fish market at the pier. 

 

view from our deck

 

However, today being a week day, everything was bustling. The regular businesses were open and street vendors were set up on both sides of the streets surrounding the square. We walked about 3 blocks down to the pier where the fishermen bring in their daily catch. The local fishermen are at it 7 days a week.

 

 

today's catch

 

seals wait patiently for scraps

ready and waiting

I have to say there is more bird poop around the pier than anywhere we've ever been. Everything is literally covered in it! Not so much in town, but around the port and fishing pier. This is the reason.

 

 

From the pier, we walked back toward the central part of town. We browsed in a grocery store and picked up some treats for our room stewards, Jose (Honduras) and Keno (Jamaica). Naturally I snapped a few random photos as I walked.

 

really?

  

 

this never fails to amaze me

It's interesting to see what the ideal body shape is in other countries. For instance, in the US, we're used to seeing store mannequins model or pencil thin without much shape on top or bottom. However, that's not everyone's idea of the perfect female body shape. We've noticed that in Brazil and Chile, their "ideal" for women is much bustier in front and curvier in back. Even the mannequins reflect their taste.

 

street vendors set up mannequins

 

private fishing boats sit idle at pier

seems everyone has something to sell

Iquique town center

typical street scene

Iquique - 1 of only 2 free ports of Chile

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 was 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.

 

friendly fishmonger

assortment of ??

???

sales are good

Ceviche is a very popular dish and people gather around these vendors, some eating it right there on the spot. 

 

eat it on the spot

ceviche - fish lovers fast food

what's for dinner?

fishermen getting nets ready for tomorrow's catch

A Sunday in Valparaiso, Chile

This was the sight off our balcony just after sunrise this morning. What a beautiful sight to wake up to! 

sailboat & small military vessels

 

sailboat at sunrise, Valparaiso

There is no interdenominational service on Sundays when in port because so many people are trying to get off the ship for early morning excursions. Instead they offer a “non sponsored” meeting in the Artists Loft, so we went to that and then hurried downstairs to get to our shuttle which carried us outside the port to meet our tour bus. We walked a short distance through the historic part of the city to where our driver was waiting. I snapped a few quick photos as we walked along.

 

Armada de Chile

Plaza Sotomayor

The weather was sunny and perfect with a high of 67 degrees. I still have a cough, as do some others around the ship. I think going from hot weather to cold and now back to hot may be part of the problem. Anyway, I wore a mask and was able to go without a problem. 

Our tour focused on the history of Valparaiso and began with a ride up one of the city’s dozen-plus funiculars that have been in operation since 1901 for a visit to the Baburizza Museum. 

 

funicular ride up the mountain

This Art Nouveau mansion is now home to a huge collection of paintings. It was built by a man who never married but had a knack for making money, traveling and collecting art from all over the world. He left the house to his nephew who sold all the furniture and turned it into a museum.

 

 

Museo Baburizza 

view to the ocean

stone mantel in living room

After spending some time touring the different rooms full of wall-to-wall paintings, we climbed back into the wooden elevators to ride the funicular back down, then loaded back on the bus for a short drive through the UNESCO historic district to tour the Villa Victoria. Built in 1904, it was once the home of the wealthiest woman in town but is now a museum with period furnishings and again, more art. We watched a film detailing the history of the city and a demonstration of how whale oil barrels were made by hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The port is one of the largest working ports I’ve seen. Tour buses are not allowed inside the port (for good reason) so we had to be shuttled outside the port to board the bus. I snapped a few window photos of the busy flea markets along the sidewalks in the old part of the city as we were driven back to the port. As with all of the big cities we've visited, graffiti is literally everywhere, even all over a very nice hotel we passed.

 

stacks and stacks of containers to be moved

sidewalk sales

bus window photo

We returned to the ship for a late lunch and then watched supplies being loaded beneath us that took all afternoon. Nothing could be loaded until the police dogs had sniffed everything out. 

 

lots of produce!

We always sail on schedule, but today the ship was an hour late leaving port because of the quantity of supplies that needed to be loaded. I’ve never seen this before, but it was “all hands on deck” as ship workers formed an assembly line up the ramp, passing goods along as fast as possible for at least a solid hour! 

 

oops, someone spilled the milk!