Sue's Travels: Santiago, Chile 9 January 2013

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Today we went on the optional trip to Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and the tour of the Veramonte winery. We left the hotel at about 8:30 am and drove for about an hour and a half to Valparaiso. The tour guide was talking about the flora and fauna of Chile. As we drove we could see pine trees, cactus and palm trees, which are native to Chile. There are also Eucalyptus trees as well, but I don’t think that they are native to Chile. Fauna consists of snakes that are not poisonous to people, foxes, birds, deer of varying sizes, puma, wild cats and Guanaca, which is a relative of the llama. There are also condors with wing spans of about 10 feet.

The valley through which we were passing is one of the most productive. I saw corn in addition to vineyards. Apparently they have started growing olives, which produces olive oil.

Santiago is in the central valley between two mountain ranges; the Andes on the east and the coastal range on the west. The rivers in Santiago are from snow and glacier melt from the Andes, which geologically are fairly young. Chile is very earthquake prone and there are about 2,000 volcanoes along Chile’s 3,000 mile length. Chile is split into 15 regions which are equivalent to our states. Santiago is in the center. At its widest, Chile is about 140 miles wide.

Chile gained its independence from Spain under the leadership of Fernando O’Higgins (Father was Irish). The fighting started in 1810 and was completed between 1818 and 1820. Fernando O’Higgins died in 1841. At his dying request, an expedition was sent to the Straights of Magellen. This expedition arrived 24 hours before a French expedition which enabled the southern tip to be part of Chile. The Attacama desert is in the north. There are parts of this desert in which no rain has ever been recorded. Neither Chile, Peru nor Bolivia was interested in this area until copper was discovered. A war was found and Chile won taking control of the area. During the gold rush in California of 1849, Chilean miners joined the hunt.

Chile has exports of about $80 Million versus imports of about $65 million.

Valparaiso is the main seaport of Chile. The city is like an amphitheatre with the port being the stage. Buildings have frequently been destroyed in earthquakes. Many houses are built of wood frame with adobe between the wood. On the street side, there is corregated metal usually painted a bright color. On the inside, they have wood. This type of construction is quite earthquake resistant. Valparaiso has all the amenities of any modern city. The first pier was constructed of the overturned hull of a ship wrecked vessel. The main square is called Plaza Sotormayor. There is a building that was destroyed in the last earthquake, but the outer walls were left standing. They replaced the building with a glass building built inside the remaining outer walls.

Vina del Mar is adjacent to Valparaiso. It is principally a resort and a much wealthier city than Valparaiso. About 1,000,000 people live between the two cities. I joined Mark and Margaret for lunch at a sandwich shop which was on the road along the waterfront. We stopped near of museum where they have one of the statues from Easter Island. After snapping a picture, I headed to the store where they sold Lapis Lazul. They had some very pretty pieces, which were not cheap. We then headed to the winery which was on the way to Santiago. I found the winery stop most interesting. We were shown the vineyards where they had two different type of grapes growing. They also showed us some old wine making equipment they had in a sort of museum. We saw the fermentation tanks and the oak barrels in which the wine is aged. They make a sauvignon blanc which is not aged. I particularly liked that wine. When it looks like the grapes might freeze, they have helicopters fly low over the fields to cause the cold air to rise and the hot air to go down. We were offered three type of wine to sample and I enjoyed them. I should have had two of each of make up for Elaine’s absence, but I was barely able to walk after three glasses. The owner of the winery also owns a winery in the Napa valley.

We then headed back to Santiago. After resting a while, I went out to dinner with two ladies who are apparently widows and are traveling together.