Sealions

Monday was a good day for us and we ended up getting no bad news which, as we had a doctors appointment and a date with a parts store was fairly important. 

Mark the campground owner and Reuben our mechanic went into town and we brought Emma and Leone, Marks favorite dogs with us. Rusty stayed aboard in his bed after I took him for a morning walk. Mark’s other rescues stayed home. 

Our first stop was on the waterfront of Iquique at the doctor’s office.

But as we were early we went for a walk in the historic district. 

Until the War of the Pacific in 1879 when Peru and Bolivia attacked Chile to gain more mines in the desert Iquique (“ee-key-kay “) was a Peruvian port but after Chile won the war Bolivian Antofagasta and Peruvian Iquique and Arica became Chilean. 

This coast was also famous for the export of guano, another name for bird shit not to put too fine a point on it, which was invaluable in Europe as fertilizer, shipped laboriously around Cape Horn. 

Then a German scientist invented artificial guano and the market collapsed. However mining continued to be an important industry and Britain, the global power, had a lot of fingers in mining concessions here. 

Indigenous Bolivian women to this day wear bowler hats imported to the region as protective headgear by British miners.  

I was pretty sure I had some skin cancer to worry about, as people my age generally do. Last year Layne didn’t weeks dealing with one on her leg, removed in Arequipa and I have a lump n my arm I wondered about. So I had some sugar to cheer me up; my last meal as it were. A slice of Divine cake with a coffee. 

Then we walked back to the waterfront to meet our fate. 

We had made our appointment a mere four days ago and it costs us $60 to see Doctor Reyes. Accessibility to medical care here is so easy compared to the US and the quality of care might surprise you. 

Mark abc I had been exchanging notes on our relative motorcycle accidents. He was so badly injured by a distracted driver he was put into an induced coma before they operated on him. He is as right as rain after going through the (free) Chilean healthcare system.  I was lucky I had first rate insurance for my bankrupting sized bill. 

Doctor Reyes has a weird phone attachment on his cell which he points at your  skin and he can read the results on his phone. “Best US technology,” he said with a smile as he wanted each of us in turn. We both got a clean bill of health. He said he also has a surgery center in his offices where he can remove anything he does find so we are definitely planning to return next year before we set off north to go home.  

Mark was downstairs as he’d finished his chores and to celebrate our good news he took us to see the sealions. 

Fishermen feed them scraps so they’ve lost their fear of humans but like it or not there they are so we got our cameras out. 

I’ve never been to Hong Kong so I’ve only seen photos but for some reason this scene across the bay to the city put me in mind of Hong Kong. 

There is no marina or jetty in Iquique but they have haul out facilities for fishing boats and though there was a swell crashing on the beach at the city front the mooring field was surprisingly flat.  

Mark says in summer people swim among the sealions who seem to enjoy seeing people up close and yet not eating them.  Layne and I swam among sealions in Baja California 30 years ago and recommend the experience. 

Mark said they had ceviche for sake upstairs so we went vans bought a few types and decided to take them home to share at the campgrounds and appetizer. 

Then we bought four empanadas for a late lunch and found ours were crispy fried pastries absolutely packed with crab and shrimp. Mark and Reuben had shellfish in theirs. 

Empanada man mss as he’s them yo order do we had a wait but we took them to go. 

Then we did a quick shop at Lider (“leader”) which is Walmart and finally got to drive home. 

Mark says you can rent a waterfront condo for $600 a month which seems like a bargain in a country as developed as Chile.  For now we like being nomads. 

Rusty was sleeping in his bed when we got back. I got a quick kiss then Layne gave him a cookie and it was sunbathing time. 

The bottom end of the yard is his domain. 

And finally we got word the parts have arrived. It doesn’t get much better than that.