Day 16 - January 19, 2008 - Antofagasta, Chile

Antofagasta, Chile photos
If it's Saturday, it must be CHILE!
We slept in and got a late, lazy start. We are all still recovering from the intestinal upset gotten on the overland trip and from the physical rigors of the quick climb and descent on our knees, feet, equilibrium, etc. coupled with the effects of losing 2 hours in the 2 nights after we reboarded. It is hard work, but somebody has to do it!Since we did not arrive at port until 1pm, we had both Compass Rose breakfast and Pool Deck buffet onboard.
We were not welcomed here. The port authorities were excessively authoritarian. We were told that we were the only cruise ship in a 12 month period and now we know why. Clearance was delayed and then they only allowed the passengers to exit the ship 36 at a time. We were told to take no fruit or vegetables ashore because of the importance of protecting Chilean agriculture. We were told that there would be random agricultural checks. Every person on an RSSC tour was individually searched as we exited the ship in groups of no more than 36, before we could board the buses. Some of the buses were then stopped at the port exit and the people and their bags were removed and they were individually searched again. On our return to the port, customs authorities stopped the buses at the entrance and all passengers and their possessions had to be removed to a building were we were wanded and walked through a metal detector and our possessions were x-rayed. Being big believers in security, we would not mind this, but it was at a 6-hour port stop with nothing of interest to the average tourist. We knew that the port had no tourist infrastructure, was remote, etc. but we had no been warned that a good chunk of our very limited time here would be spent in examining every individual on and off the ship. The people that were not in tour groups may have been treated differently, we don't know. But, we do know that they were not allowed by the Chilean authorities to disembark the ship until after the RSSC tour groups had departed.
We drove back to the ship the other day through 5 hours of nothing but brown desert and apparently this desert goes on and on for many more miles. One of the biggest, driest places on the planet. Antofagasta is in this desert. It served as a jumping off point for passengers doing overnight excursions through the Atacama Desert. RSSC would have better served its guests by spending this time here for just disembarking those guests and perhaps bringing on the Chilean Explosion of Culture show as they did and letting us move on to a more welcoming environment. Now this is from a person who would drive 3-hours to see a dry forest. So, we are adventurers and willing to appreciate whatever is to be seen locally. However, there was nothing of interest to see in this town, where we were not welcomed, and the closest sights of interest were too far to be seen in a 7-hour stop.
So, Antofagasta is a city of about 275,000. It is historically and currently dependant upon mining. It sits nestled between the cold currents of the sea and the mountains of the desert. It is remote and a pretty bleak location. There is a very large and modern shopping mall just minutes drive from the port entrance. It is visible from the ship and as docking, but as is frequently the case, you can't get there easily from here. The mall did provide free open-air doubledecker buses as a free shuttle from the port. Our advice to any future visitors would be in order of importance, just stay on the ship and consider it a sea day, or if you really must go ashore, just go to the mall. We never saw a taxi cab anywhere during the hours we spent out on our tour.
Our tour. Sadly, this was a big disappointment. We have had some great days seeing the local sights in Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, not so here. We paid RSSC $45 per person for a 3-hour tour in an air-conditioned coach. Since we had to sit in Constellation Theater and wait for first the overland tours to depart and then around 150 people to file out in 36-person clusters, we just waited it out and did not press to the doors. This put us on Bus 5, the last for the Highlights of Antofagasta. (Sadly, we drove out of the port past the overnight people still standing on the pavement in the sun putting their belts back on and repacking their bags at the customs stand!) While the first 4 buses were air-conditioned, apparently someone got greedy and overbooked this tour, providing a fifth bus that was not air-conditioned. Since it was high humidity and in the upper 80sF it made for a very unpleasant afternoon. The sound system on our bus was not working well and the guide did not really try to use. He was gesturing with the mike and speaking with it away from his mouth. So, that coupled with the roar of the wind with the bus in motion meant that we could about every 5-10th word. For......and......it.......sure.......old........mining...........ruins........Army...........mall..........square You get the idea. So, the highlights of Antofagasta. We went first to La Portada which was admittedly worth a drive if not the 2 personal searches lined up in the sunshine. But, at each stop the guide, Emilio, just spoke as the bus was moving then opened the doors and told us to get out. He did not tell us when to come back or speak to us as a group on the ground where we might all gather round and be able to hear him. Once we were out of the bus, people scattered to return or not at their will and Emilio went off on his own. So, predictably, this meant some long waits on a hot bus as Emilio and Montserrat (our Regent Travel Concierge escort) went to round them up. (We regret not identifying Montserrat, hope that is spelled correctly!) as a RSSC staffer in our earlier discussion of our dinner with Scott Kinney, her boss. We were seated on opposite sides of the table and never really got to talk until we landed on the same bus.) Then we drove into the center of town and unloaded at the main square. Same story as above. No idea what we were seeing or any of its significance and the mystery of when and where to reboard and the wait. Then we drove to the Huanchaca Ruins. This was some concrete piles with rebar sticking out, scattered around the edge of a cliff. Since we heard nothing on the bus and knew Emilio would bolt, no one moved to get off the bus. Debbie asked what ruins? It's got rebar, it can't be historical, what is it exactly. The answer came back, not over the sound system because of course now we were sitting still and it might have been useful, that thishad been a silver refinery and it closed operations in 1901-02, we think. A few people got out just for the sea breeze. They hadno where to wander, so we weren't there long. Now Emilio told us that we were going to the handicrafts market for some shopping. The bus stopped and he told us we had to be back onboard and ready to leave in 10 minutes. Since it had taken us more than 5 minutes to unload each time and up to 15 minutes to reload this was beyond all comprehension. We checked our maps later from the Travel Concierge Desk and there was a handicrafts market uphill one block from where the bus actually parked, but Emilio did not point it out or guide us up there, so no one saw it. Since we had no time it really was a moot point anyway. So, the people that got off the bus walked to where it looked like we had been directed and there were 9 booths open and as many closed and they were selling rayon blouses, stuffed animals, belts, plastic clocks, etc. Some people did come back with silver jewelry and polished rocks, but in 10 minutes there was no way that 36 people could have a shopping op at 9 booths, so we mostly left sweaty and empty-handed. At this point, Emilio was in a rush to get us back. Our RSSC ship-wide Complimentary Event was to begin at 5pm and it was almost 4:30. Now, we know why. The search on our return to the port. We made it back onboard just in time to drop our hats off at the cabin and get a seat in the Constellation Theater. So, we sat sweaty for the music and dancers. This was a group from the local university. The music was loud and there were a lot of dancers. They do a lot of hanky dances. We have no idea why. There was some talking it was in Spanish and was untranslated. The one thing that was translated midway through was that the music and dances were representative of the North of Chile. We got back to the cabin to wash up and see the sail away and the thermometer we had left on our coffee table read 115F. It was in the sun, but in an air-conditioned cabin! We imagine that was about the temperature in the bus today. There were a bunch of big, ugly jellyfish in the water off our balconies!
We decided to stay in on this Country Club Casual night and watch a DVD. Debbie finally shook loose the ship's copy of De-Lovely at the Reception Desk. We ordered from Room Service and watch inMargie's cabin. Unfortunately, her TV just keeps getting worse and worse. We have filed a complaint or 2 about this and at our dinner with Richard Fenn when he heard about her wobbling picture promised to get it fixed. Well, when we get off someone in 736 will have a new TV within a month. But, not us. Early to bed again with a plan to sleep in again before Sunday Brunch in Compass Rose on Sunday.
Antofagasta, Chile photos