DAY-23: Coquimbo, Chile
DAY-23: Coquimbo, Chile
Day – 23: Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Starting Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Interim Location: Moored at Coquimbo, Chile
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
We entered the port at Coquimbo, Chile around 8:30 this morning and were alongside the pier by 9 AM. The city wraps around the port beginning with a large rock outcropping to our starboard side. Atop the entry hillside stands a large cross visible for miles on the approach. The port like others has many ships, boats and vessels and in a similarity to Montevideo seems to be the near-final resting spot for derelict vessels of many sorts.
A good number of seals and/or sea lions followed us into the harbor; fishing must be good.
Well two weeks into the cruise my breakfast has returned to pre-cruise form, coffee and a cup of yogurt. Two guesses who visited a scale in the gym yesterday.
Our tour was scheduled for the afternoon so the morning was a leisurely departure from many of the tour days. We departed the ship around noon passing through the cruise terminal. Once outside we walked along the pier to arrive at the bus staging area
Sheila can be seen gingerly walking along the pier, those are not white snowflakes adorning the pier ...
Today we would be taking the "Petroglyphs and Vineyards" tour into the Enchantment Valley of central Chile.
The bus ride to our destination took about an hour. We rode from the relatively cool seashore into desert like terrain.
This towering mosque sits high on a hill in Coquimbo, somewhat in competition to the hilltop cross at the port entry.
Had I mentioned the graffiti?
In some cases homes appeared to barely hang onto the hillside.
And then there were two or three beach resort areas, all looking relatively modern, perhaps built over the past 15-20 years. All were water front and had one or more golf courses. One of the resorts even had its own airport, a paved landing strip for the Chilean jet set I suppose.
This region is noted for its farmland and there were fruit orchards on both sides of the highway for much of the ride through the valley.
Our first stop was at the Tabali vineyard and winery.
This had to be the most modernistic design for a winery that I've ever seen.
Not only is it modern looking but it also uses any number of environmentally friendly features as well as being energy efficient. As usual we toured the wine making and storage areas of the site.
We then headed under ground through a tunnel like structure where we passed a long wall mural painted to depict the thousands of years of human life in the area and then by several fancy dining and service areas.
Continuing on to our real mission for the tour, we had a tasting of several of the winery's products along with empanadas and other tapas type dishes.
The wines were all good but as we were nearing the end of the cruise and with little or no packing space remaining, we did not purchase any wine to bring home.
Following the wine tour we moved on to the "hot but dry" desert area to see the petroglyphs. Several of us bemoaned the fact that we should have stayed at the winery. The petroglyphs are similar to other rock etchings/drawings we've seen in other geographies, perhaps all created by a traveling band of paleo-artists.
Here are two closer views of the image that's adjacent to my shoulder. The lighting, angle of attack and shadowing cause the image to be more or less revealing. What do you think, ancient spaceman, chief of the local tribe, imaginary creature long passed into extinction, etc.?
Supposedly these etchings and borings date back as much as 4,000 years, but who really knows. We hiked through the rocks for about 45 minutes before returning too the bus for the ride back to Coquimbo and the ship.
Well let's guess, could this fellow traveler be from Boston?
Interim Location: Moored at Coquimbo, Chile
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
We entered the port at Coquimbo, Chile around 8:30 this morning and were alongside the pier by 9 AM. The city wraps around the port beginning with a large rock outcropping to our starboard side. Atop the entry hillside stands a large cross visible for miles on the approach. The port like others has many ships, boats and vessels and in a similarity to Montevideo seems to be the near-final resting spot for derelict vessels of many sorts.
Well two weeks into the cruise my breakfast has returned to pre-cruise form, coffee and a cup of yogurt. Two guesses who visited a scale in the gym yesterday.
Our tour was scheduled for the afternoon so the morning was a leisurely departure from many of the tour days. We departed the ship around noon passing through the cruise terminal. Once outside we walked along the pier to arrive at the bus staging areaSheila can be seen gingerly walking along the pier, those are not white snowflakes adorning the pier ...
Today we would be taking the "Petroglyphs and Vineyards" tour into the Enchantment Valley of central Chile.
The bus ride to our destination took about an hour. We rode from the relatively cool seashore into desert like terrain.
This towering mosque sits high on a hill in Coquimbo, somewhat in competition to the hilltop cross at the port entry.
Had I mentioned the graffiti?
Condos along the water front, often we hear that these are really government housing high rises.
We passed through great expanses of farmland and housing built upon rugged terrain.
In some cases homes appeared to barely hang onto the hillside.
And then there were two or three beach resort areas, all looking relatively modern, perhaps built over the past 15-20 years. All were water front and had one or more golf courses. One of the resorts even had its own airport, a paved landing strip for the Chilean jet set I suppose.
This region is noted for its farmland and there were fruit orchards on both sides of the highway for much of the ride through the valley.
Our first stop was at the Tabali vineyard and winery.
Not only is it modern looking but it also uses any number of environmentally friendly features as well as being energy efficient. As usual we toured the wine making and storage areas of the site.
Continuing on to our real mission for the tour, we had a tasting of several of the winery's products along with empanadas and other tapas type dishes.
The wines were all good but as we were nearing the end of the cruise and with little or no packing space remaining, we did not purchase any wine to bring home.
 |
| Petroglyph on the Rock Aligned with My Right Shoulder |
Following the wine tour we moved on to the "hot but dry" desert area to see the petroglyphs. Several of us bemoaned the fact that we should have stayed at the winery. The petroglyphs are similar to other rock etchings/drawings we've seen in other geographies, perhaps all created by a traveling band of paleo-artists.
Here are two closer views of the image that's adjacent to my shoulder. The lighting, angle of attack and shadowing cause the image to be more or less revealing. What do you think, ancient spaceman, chief of the local tribe, imaginary creature long passed into extinction, etc.?
Well let's guess, could this fellow traveler be from Boston?
 |
We arrived back on board Marina at about 6:45 and within about 20 minutes the ship was underway; next stop Pisco, Peru on Saturday.
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HOME !!!
We had a nice moon-scape off the balcony tonight.
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