The best news of the day was that, finally, the clocks would go back one hour tonight. Music to our ears, which will be appreciated by the guests and the staff. From here on out, the clocks will go back as we head west, which is fine with us.
Many of us remarked that is was nice to see we would be docking in a new port at San Antonio, and it's not in Texas. So upon inquiring as to what to see and do here, we were told this is a commercial port near Valparaiso, where we usually dock. So this city lies among the rolling hills and coastal dunes, and is reportedly one of the busiest fishing ports in western South America.
According to the port guide, there is a local fishing market and a main shopping street close by. One museum, a casino, and a harbor promenade may keep many of us busy. But we still wondered why we did not dock in Valparaiso, a much nicer place. We would find out later.
The shore excursions included one tour to Valparaiso, and several trips to Santiago. Wine tasting with a lunch, museums, or a visit to an artist's home were among the offerings. Two excursions ended up at the Santiago airport, an indication this might be the beginning and end of another segment. We were told about 12 people were leaving and about the same amount joining.
We arrived in the darkness of early morning to the very industrial port of San Antonio at 7am. The ship was cleared before 8am, and the tour groups were off and running. It was very overcast with high fog, but not all that cold in our opinion. Much like San Francisco to us.
Breakfast was fun, because we found Gan, our waiter, had gotten an extreme haircut last night. His new style was shaved on the sides and back, with very little on the top. Yikes…..all of his regulars had the same reaction as us. Saying he got his "$5 worth", he will not need hair gel for a while. And by the way, we can call him Pablo, because he looks so totally different. Needless to say, he is a fun and crazy guy.
Shortly after 10am, we discovered we had no water in our room. Somehow, they forgot to mention to all of us that emergency maintenance was taking place until 1pm. We found the printed notice in our mail slot when we came back from town. Better late than never, we always say.
Leaving the ship around 11am, we boarded the mandatory shuttle to the terminal building. It took a total of 2 minutes. This was as far as many guests and crew got, since there was free WIFI, and a whole lot of chairs for people to sit to do it. Many passengers will not buy any of the ship's plans, and depend on local WIFI, free or not, to do their emailing. That may or may not be such a safe thing to do in many ports. We simply do not trust that we are not getting hacked. But that is just us, and we have been happy with the ship's internet until while on this trip, except when it malfunctioned.
There were a handful of taxi drivers offering tours to Valparaiso and Santiago, but they were fairly low-key…..no pressure like in some other countries. Some of our buddies were going to attempt a trip to a winery and lunch, and we're sure they will have no problem getting a ride.
Turning left at the gate, we followed the crowd going towards the mall, a three story complex that might have been built in the 1970's maybe. Much smaller than the one in Puerto Montt, it still had the same type of stores. But first, we located the beginning of the malecon, or paved walkway, which followed the seawall for quite a distance. Arriving at the boat harbor, we fully realized we had come upon the busiest fishing port in Chile. Small wooden boats filled the floating docks, each boat covered with birds. There were a lot of the black backed gulls, regular gulls, pigeons, and even vultures.
The sidewalks were loaded with more street vendors than we found in Puerto Montt. There was a difference though, as we saw no Peruvian items for sale here. What we did find were scores of locals walking this pathway and filling the markets. This must be where they do most of their food shopping.
Heo was already on his way back to the ship, not particularly liking this port. But we had just run into Sandy and Jack, walkers like us, and they loved it. Different strokes for different folks we say. Jack told us not to miss the fish market, and the sea lions that were laying on the rocks on the seawall. Perfect, we were already liking it . So after purchasing 2 sets of earrings, and one cool beach bag, we were headed in that direction next.
Getting closer to noontime, it was getting more crowded. Many food stalls were in this area, and the locals were coming out for the empanadas, churros, chocolate-dipped marshmallows and strawberries, and smoothies. At the end of the malecon, we found the fish market, chockful of the fresh catch of the day. Lots of shellfish and unrecognizable sea creatures were mixed with the packaged smoked items of questionable origins. Would have helped if we understood more Spanish. We did have to be careful walking through here since the floor was really wet with potholes. The streets were fairly clean, but the seaside was littered with plastic and aluminum floating in the surf.
We made our way to the fenced backside of the market building, and located the giant sea lions that were sunning themselves on the rocks. The males do have a head that resembles a lion, complete with a mane. Many females were laying on the boulders too , but there were no pups. Probably not the time of year that they have babies. Walking to the end of the fish market, we saw several pelicans standing on the same boulders. Standing under a sign post, we did not know that a few large black backed gulls were perched there. One of the fish vendors pointed this out to us. She knew at any moment we could have been splattered with something not so nice. Even though she spoke Spanish, we got the message she was sending. Those kind of things are universal.
Directly across the street, we found the entrance to the mall. A bigger crowd was going in there through a different type of entrance. We had to go downstairs, then find the escalators up. There was no window visible on the outside of this building at the street level. If there were windows, they had been boarded up a long time ago. We did go inside mainly just to see what was in there. It was warm and muggy in there, so we ended up back outside within 20 minutes. The restrooms were different here. The women's were by themselves, and the men's were located in a different area. Must be a reason for this. We did see a whole lot of our crew in here, so this might be the last chance for them to find bargains.
We slowly made our way back to the ship, deciding against finding some place for lunch. The recommended ones on the ship's map were nowhere to be found. And we found nothing that resembled pizza anywhere in this area. Best bet was to eat lunch on the ship, where we know what we are eating and drinking. We stopped along the way to watch about three small ferries carrying the locals on a harbor tour. We think the big attraction was the Amsterdam. The only other vessels were container ships, having their contents being loaded or unloaded. In fact, we had gotten five containers of food and supplies this morning. We will have 10 days crossing the Pacific on our way towards Papeete, Tahiti. There will be two stops, but only Easter Island will be a real port of call. Or at least we think it will be. With another printed message concerning the coronavirus, this new message said that if we are screened for the virus, and lie about where we have been traveling prior to boarding, we could be put off or charged with misleading authorities. Rumors are flying that we might not be stopping at some of the upcoming ports, which could be bad. It is already happening to many cruise ships at the moment. That is, being denied entry into their countries. It is what it is at this point, and we have no control over the outcome.
Back onboard by 3pm, we worked in the room until it was time for the sail away party at the aft deck. A few of the all day tours were not back yet, so we left the harbor around 6pm. Greg joined us as we sailed through the opening and into the rougher seas outside the bulkhead. Since the weather was a bit dismal-looking, not many folks came outside to participate in the drinks and small treats of sausage on bread. If you are lucky, you may be offered one during the sail away. And besides, dinner had begun in the Lido as well as the dining room.
So we did hear that the reason we were moved to the commercial port, was due to the fact that Valparaiso had built a new facility, but wanted to keep it for cargo ships. Perhaps it was a money thing, but the city changed their minds, and said we could dock there. With everything planned in San Antonio, such as all of the tours, we ended up staying where we were.
All of us were back to our table tonight. The spicy shrimp was the most-ordered meal, while one of us had pasta with an alternate chicken breast. Not a bad combination. By the time dessert arrived, we were the last guests in the lower dining room. Guess people were worn out. The fellows went to the show, a tribute to the Beatles by singer Jesse Kazemek. The rest of us turned in for the evening, except Barb, who was on her way to check out the newly-boarded dance hosts. She is like the energizer bunny…….
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, February 17, 2020
Report #97 San Antonio (Santiago), Chile February 11, 2020 Tuesday Mostly cloudy & 66 degrees
