One Uber, eight dollars and thirty minutes and there you are from camping Los Olivios in Laguna Verde, transported to the port city of Valparaiso.
The Uber deposited us on the waterfront named for Arturo Prat (a name of Catalan extraction you will be relieved to hear) an officer in the Chilean navy who died in the War of the Pacific and whose heroism has gained him mythic status.
Valparaiso was founded in 1536 and has a population of around 300,000 people. Its heyday was in the 19th century as a major port especially as a stop over for ships rounding the Horn to and from the Atlantic Ocean. In fact its peculiar geography on steep hills tumbling into the Pacific got it lots of comparisons to San Francisco. However the Panama Canal cut into its port operations and the city, while still an important hub of commerce has fallen on harder times and it shows.
It could use some love and a lick of paint.
One disconcerting thing was the constant warnings from the Uber driver, to shop keepers and even passersby to be careful as pickpockets and thieves abound. This is decidedly not a safe city and leaving the van at the campground with Rusty sleeping aboard was an easy decision.
The Chilean Navy has been based here since 1817 and you will see sailors all over town.
The naval headquarters building wouldn’t look out of place in Paris.
The navy’s steel hulled barquentine Esmeralda was also moored in the harbor. The sail training ship was originally ordered by the Spanish government who sold her to Chile even before she was launched in 1953.
Valparaiso has cable cars running up the steep slopes of the city from the waterfront. For a few pennies you get a ride up into the neighborhoods overlooking the city.
I figured this guy was angling to ride down the stairs as he hung around patiently waiting for the steps to clear of pedestrians. I was ready.
Constantine and Julia from Washington state whom we finally met up with in the campground after months of following them on Instagram, they are true travelers with a lively sense of humor and lots of curiosity.
Young love much in evidence on these panoramic overlooks.
Konstantin and I were looking over the roofs and he spotted this heavy steel barriers blocking off the roof of the central white building, the one with the radio antenna. He figured it might be a diplomatic seat and I thought possibly a broadcaster. Someone in seven who wants no rooftop trespassers.
Cleaning the roof isn’t as harsh as it may seem as it wasn’t that hot under the sun with the cool Pacific Ocean breeze blowing inland.
These guys were doing construction of some sort on a steep slope. They had built a wooden runway to pull up a trolley for supplies and tools. Cora wondered how solid the housing was with all the sand she could see.
You can imagine the 19th century wealth that got these mansions built, some are hotels, some museums.
And lots of corrugated iron construction which I found unusual.
Constantine, Julia, Cora and Florian. Russians and Germans.
Get your documents laminated on the sidewalk:
The former national bank of Chile:
They were photographing the pink flamingo.
This shipping company front door with the inscription put me in mind of a Conrad novel, “Nostromo” perhaps.
The Court of Appeals:
And the flea market where I got an excellent cappuccino.
Florian found a bunch of historic German currency notes. He grew up in the era of the euro.
And then we rode the Uber home, up and over the hill.
We woke up our sleeping dog and got on with done chores. Layne had to check the inside of her eyelids and that took an hour.
Heroic me wrote up this blog post. Rusty chased noises and then rested under the warmth of the afternoon sun. Puerto Montt is 900 miles south and that, for now, is our goal. Meanwhile we rest a little and maybe check out some vineyards.
