April 6, 2018 – Valparaiso, Chile

Not unexpectedly, seas were rough for the 400-mile transit from Robinson Crusoe Island to Valparaiso. Sea swells and waves were high, wind was between 45 - 50 knots (52 – 58 miles per hour), and there were relatively cool temperatures compared to our past several weeks in French Polynesia. This morning in Valparaiso, it was 59°F (15°C). Weather is still being influenced by the Humboldt Current bringing cold water from the Antarctic up along the west coast of South America.

We’re now at 33°S, 71.6°W, at the same longitude as Boston, Massachusetts, but our clocks are one time zone east of Boston (the same time as Nova Scotia and Bermuda).

Valparaíso is a city of 350,000 people on the Pacific coast of central Chile, approximately 70 miles west of the national capital in Santiago de Chile. Its history has been tied to the sea. Until the opening of the Panama Canal, Valparaíso was a near guaranteed stopover for all ships that had rounded Cape Horn traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This was the golden age for Valparaíso, as immigrants, merchants, and banking institutions from many European countries set up shop here. The city grew to be a prosperous and cosmopolitan port, and there are still areas of the city known as the English, German, and Italian parts of town.

Alas, growth of the city and the infusion of money must have stopped with the opening of the Panama Canal. Today the city could best be described as “gritty,” with the meteoric growth of Santiago (70 miles away by road) and Valparaiso’s neighboring city of Viña del Mar passing it by. Much of the city itself is rundown, with lots of graffiti. However, Valparaiso can still brag of a very busy harbor (Chile’s principal seaport), a large Chilean Navy presence, seven universities, and the headquarters for the Chilean National Congress. In fact, the historic center of the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

All that being said, we enjoyed our visit to Valparaiso (and Viña del Mar) today. Our travel agent (Preferred Travel of Naples), through their Signature Connection alliance, arranged for a private car and local guide to take us on an 8-hour guided tour, which was supposed to start at 7:00am. By the time local authorities cleared Symphony passengers to go ashore, and we took a mandatory shuttle bus ride through the large container port to the terminal, it was 7:30. Our local guide was waiting for us there. Sunrise wasn’t until after 8:00, so it was still a little dark the first part of the day.

Topographically, Valparaiso is quite unique. The city is spread over 45 hills (called cerros) that are mostly lined up north-to-south in a repeating “hill-valley-hill-valley” alignment. There are many narrow, winding, hilly streets, and almost no parking. This alignment leads to distinct neighborhoods known by the hill on which they’re located. There are many old (from the 1800s) funiculars, called Ascensores, for pedestrians to travel to the tops of the hills without the necessity of driving or walking long and steep routes. We traveled down one of these rickety funiculars (Ascensor Artillería) that was built in 1893, and we breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the bottom of the hill safely.

Interestingly, when the city was originally settled there were no flat lands at the base of these hills, but the port and business center were the result of massive landfills. This part of Chile was occupied by the Spanish who came down the Inca Trail (inland) and decided on setting up the capital where Santiago now sits. They then needed a port, so they filled in a narrow belt of land at the foot of the hills and founded Valparaiso in 1544. This lower, flat, coastal strip is now called, “El Plan.”

We started our tour at the southernmost hill and worked our way to the north. We think we visited 33 of the 45 hills and gained a lot of respect for the driver today, going steeply up and down these tall, narrow, curving hills all day. The first stop was at Punta Angeles where there is a large Navy base (just one of many of these bases) and a lighthouse. There was a nice view from here, even though the sun wasn’t fully up yet. We saw many views, especially of the large body of water in the bay and the port, from the tops of hills all day long in Valparaiso.

The remainder of the morning, we took in the ambiance of the many ethnic neighborhoods, while also doing a lot of walking up and down hills and connecting stairways. We admired the many brightly colored houses, beautiful seaside views, and the many old multi-story houses built along the sides of hills. 

On Artillery Hill (Cerro Artilleria) we admired the panoramic view and walked along the Mirador del Cerro Artilleria, where, later in the day there would be souvenir shops and small restaurants open. Unfortunately, not this early in the morning. 

We walked along several more of these pleasant promenades during the course of the morning; Paseo Atkinson was our personal favorite, although there was a full city-block of vacant homes along the prettiest part of the promenade.

On Cerro Bellavista, we spent about an hour at La Sebastiana -- the Valparaiso home of Chilean author Pablo Neruda who won the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature. It is a narrow, 5-story home (lots of stars), with beautiful views and relics collected by Mr. Neruda.

We also did a little wandering around Plaza Sotomayor, in the center of Downtown Valparaiso, near the waterfront. Focus of the square is a monument to honor the Chilean sailors who died in the “Battle of Iquique” during the War of the Pacific (1879 – 1883). The monument shows a heroic statue of Captain Arturo Prat, who lost his life during the battle. As victor in this war, Chile acquired a large amount of territory from Peru and Bolivia. This seems to be a great source of pride to citizens of Chile. At the far end of the square is the palatial, blue-colored headquarters of the Chilean Navy.

Around noon, we headed north along the coast for about 20 minutes to Viña del Mar – a very different city. It is very neat and orderly in comparison to Valparaiso. The original developer’s name meant “Vineyard by the Sea,” but there are no longer any vineyards here. Today, this is a well-to-do city of over 400,000 people, with white-sand beaches, carefully designed parks and public spaces, wide avenues, modern architecture, tall resort hotels, condos, apartment buildings, and upscale shopping. Our guide told us that this beach resort city is often called Chile’s “Garden City.” Counting the nearby communities of Concón and Reñaca, this is considered to be Chile’s third largest metropolitan area. It is truly a big contrast to Valparaiso.

We stopped in Viña del Mar to look at the flower clock and drove past many (expensive looking) condo towers and stores, including shopping malls. We did go to one handicraft store where we bought a wall hanging consisting of copper and enameled bells. It was near the archaeological museum, with an Easter Island Moai in front of the building.

To take in the views, we rode along the coast a little past Viña del Mar and stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant specializing in seafood. We had the best table in the restaurant (surrounded by windows) reserved for us, and we watched the birds and seals frolicking in the water.

The Valparaiso area is rich in history and has an intriguing mix of cultures and architecture. We were glad we took the tour today.

Jim & Ginny