Day 18 - January 21, 2008 - Valparaiso, Chile

Valparaiso, Chile - photos
We arrived on time here and were docked on the starboard side by 7am. The ship was cleared by 8am and we were in a shuttle bus to the terminal by 8:05am. It was cool here on arrival and there were clouds settling over the hills as we headed off the ship. By noon, it had cleared and the sun was shining brightly. The high temperature while we were here was still probably at or just under 70F. The Captain yesterday had announced a high of 30C and weather.com had a high predicted of 90F and sunny. The last weather website we checked was 67F. The daily Passages predicted a high of 69F. The Passages forecast had been off by 10 degrees for Antofagasta, so we weren't trusting it. It started out quite chilly and warmed up comfortably, but we had to leave in mid-afternoon anyway. The port provides a free shuttle bus in the port from the ship to the Passenger Terminal Building and in fact passengers are not allowed to walk freely inside the port area at all, although there is a place where the locals may and it has a restaurant and a handcrafts market, but it is not for cruisers. RSSC provided a free shuttle bus to and from Casino Vina del Mar about every 30 minutes.
We had a really good day today. Today we had a private guide arranged that Debbie had been in touch with for months. (Debbie first found him listed in a Frommer's guidebook and then on the Internet.) She had promised to bring him some gifts from the USA and one of them was chocolates. We were again searched here by Chilean Agriculture outbound (Customs inbound) and again it was 100% but this port had 2 cruise ships here today. (RSSC Mariner and HAL Prinsendam) They had 2 cruise ships here yesterday, so they are set up to handle it. You have to take port shuttle buses about 1 mile from the cruise ship berths to the Passenger Terminal building. There you are line up against the wall and you have to set your things on the floor on the other side of a rope. A dog goes by and then a 2nd dog goes by. The first dog just about picked Bob up and the 2nd dog ignored our things. Debbie and the woman next to her got pulled for another inspection. Everyone was very friendly and asked if a dog had ever touched Bob. Well, yeah! In their mouths? Yeah. OK, maybe that was it. Then, they found the bags of Ghiradelli chocolates and thought maybe that was it. Then they requested a demonstration of our collapsible sunhats, everything passed inspection and Debbie was free to go. Right outside the door with a sign as promised was Leo Silva, our guide. One of the first questions Leo asked was where had we come from. He thought we were going around the other direction since that is what most cruise ships that call here do. They just go from Rio or Buenos Aires to Valparaiso and back again. That means that most passengers are either starting or departing here and not many passengers do any touring here. Also, most people are encouraged to visit Vina del Mar or Santiago or the wineries. We are very happy with our decision to see the local side of Valparaiso instead. Anyway, Debbie told Leo our last port was Antofagasta. He was surprised and asked her if she liked it. She made a face and said no. He laughed. He said he had been there and he did not like it either. Seems Antofagasta is not welcoming to Chileans from out of town either, so it wasn't just us!
We had a great day walking and taking public transit here. Valparaiso is an old and unusual city. It was first settled in 1542, it was raided by pirates like Sir Francis Drake, it prospered from the California gold rush and then it languished after the opening of the Panama Canal. It has a naval base and is the seat of the Chilean Parliament. It meanders up and down the hills and is centered on the bay. It has a number of old ascensors or funiculars. We took the oldest funicular, the longest one, and the most representative one. These were really amazing. We had a really great day and everyone was happy and smiling and waving and even photographing us. Pasted below is the description from Leo's website. http://www.rutavalparaiso.cl/
LONELY ROUTE
Ruta Valparaíso we have created an innovative and personalized way of doing tourism. A guide will pick you up and take you through a Valparaíso by bus, just like a friend.
You will have the chance to mix-up with people and places where our daily life events take place. You will visit interesting corners, old elevators, typical places and all athractive places Valparaíso can offer.
LONELY ROUTE INCLUDES
Guide Hotel/City Tour/Hotel
All bus fares
La Sebastiana, Neruda's museum ( ticket is not includes )
Photographic walking tour on Concepción and Alegre hill's
Typicall elevator
Bay boat-trip ( ticket is not includes )
DURATION
Departure (Morning tour): 09:30 am. Return: 14:30 pm
Departure (afternoon tour): 15:30 pm. Return: 20.30 pm
DAYS
Tuesday trough Sunday
Minimum of 1 tourist are required.
Tickets for atraccions are not includes.
PRICE: $14.000.- per person (Chilean Pesos)
Since we were here on Monday, the Neruda museum was closed. Also, since we were cruising in and out we skipped the bay boat-trip. We walked and walked. We strolled a couple of blocks through a flea market. The local dogs here had fresh bones from the butcher shops this morning. We took 3 buses and 2 electric trolleys. The trolleys dated from the 1940's. We took 3 ascensors and they dated from 1883 to 1916. The first was Ascensor Larrain, the second Concepion and the last was Artilleria. They were really amazing. We visited the local Wall St. and hit an ATM and saw Leo's wife and daughter. We visited a crafts market and Margie bought a wooden picture of Valparaiso and Clay and Debbie got T-shirts. We had lunch at J. Cruz M. Casino Social Museo, a quirky little local place with live, local music and shared Chorillana for 3. It was a big platter of french fries topped with scrambled eggs with onions and chunks of beef. It was served with bread with chili sauce. Margie had a Sprite, Debbie had a Coke and Leo and Clay had local beers. It was Del Puerto and Clay had both a dark and an amber ale. You can probably forget trying to find this place without help, it was down a tiny alley!

We can highly recommend Leo Silva and Ruta Valparaiso to any future visitors to Valpo.
We sailed about an hour late. We were waiting for at least one bus to return. We did not hear which bus was delayed or why. Terry Breen spoke on the speakers during sailaway.
Tonight is Country Club Casual. There is a new International menu at LaVeranda. But, since Compass Rose is still serving local specialties, we will probably go there. The show tonight is Ballroom Bravo. Not clear if anyone will up for that tonight, but it is the 2nd time they have done it, so if we miss it again, we may have another shot at it.
Valparaiso, Chile - photos