Month: November 2018

La Serena & Elqui Valley

A lovely smaller city, with an impressive bus station- some are just shocking, La Serena was my base for seeing the Elqui Valley. This valley runs from the coast into the border crossing with Argentina.

The first stop was Puclaro Dam. It has apparently been designed to withstand a 10.0 earthquake- which is good considering it holds 200 million cubic meters of water.

The making of Pisco- Chile’s national beverage /(under argument with Peru) – was next on the agenda. Pisco is made similarly to white wine, though it is kept in large barrels for 2 years and some varieties are aged in burnt French oak barrels for 1 year. This spirit is used most often In the making of Pisco sours. It tastes a fair bit like tequila- though tequila is made from Agave.

As one drives through the valley, the valley floor narrows considerably and becomes more dramatic as you have mountains that rise rapidly to approx. 2,000-2,700m above sea level. The valley is covered with white grapes for Pisco- (only Pisco from this valley can be called Pisco in Chile- the same as with Champagne) . Surprisingly there is also a large avocado plantation here. Avocados are very thirsty trees- and vines like dry arid climates. They pump water to the avocado trees from the river in the valley.

Lunch was at Elqui Pisco- a quaint little village –with a charming atmosphere.

In the evening was- the best part really- watching the stars in the best country for it… no, I mean it. Chile has the world’s best skies for viewing the galaxies. The world’s largest telescope is currently under construction by 12 countries in Europe- it is un-originally called Extremely Large Telescope ?!?! It will have a laser that is 60cm wide and can point to objects 150km away. The mirror of the telescope is the size of a swimming pool- 40m in diameter!!!

On the hills (2,700m) you can see 3 telescopes (GEMINI, SOAR, Tololo) –which cost approximately Euro 40 000 per hour to operate. I asked the astronomer how one pays for the cost and if there is a long waiting list, how do these astronomers determine who gets to use these bad boys? Basically you need to get sponsors, with a justification of what you are out to prove or find and how you suggest going about it.

The sky was glorious! We saw Saturn and Mars, some nebula and stars of Orion’s belt. The clarity from Mamalluca –the public observatory we were at, at 1,100m – was crisp clear. It is also from this valley that everyone is getting majorly excited about for June 2019, when there will be a solar eclipse.

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Valparaiso

Post author By Jo
Post date 27 November 2018
7 Comments on Valparaiso

There are funiculars and stairs and narrow passages and roadways that get you lost in the most colourful city in Chile- if not the world! The town is most well-known for its spectacular street art and Bohemian vibe. It’s not something that’s easy to describe- so I’m just going to spam you with photos.

This city was once known as the Pearl of the Pacific as it was a crucial stop and port for those travelling around the South American continent. The traffic through here changed dramatically in 1914 though- when the Panama Canal opened and ships no longer had to go around the horn.

Barring this importance, it was never planned to be a big town- which shows in the extremely winding streets that go nowhere and everywhere and don’t join where you would like them to! There is a small strip of reclaimed land between the see and the hills; however, then it’s a steep climb to all the neighbourhoods- I know I did a 600m walk up those hills with my backpack and all the kit, coming from the bus station. The whole town is made up of hills- and unlike most places in the world, property prices decrease as you go further up the hill!

Chile South America

Santa Rita & Concha Y Toro Wineries

Post author By Jo
Post date 27 November 2018
2 Comments on Santa Rita & Concha Y Toro Wineries

Carmenere is not a red wine that I was aware of until I had my first taste of it and some amazing history on my wine tour to these two huge wineries. Carmenere vines had become extinct in Bordeaux due to a Phylloxera (louse that eats vine roots) breakout that killed all known plants in 1867. Fast forward to 1994- an ampelographer- person who studies vine leaves…yes, one can specialize THAT much!!! Realized that the merlot vines in Chile were turning red in the fall; BUT merlot vines turned yellow in the fall before losing their leaves. Further testing revealed that Chile now contains 95% of the world’s Carmenere! Vines were brought from Bordeaux in 1850s and were well protected from attacks by Chile’s natural borders.

Santa Rita was the first stop on the day trip out of Santiago. The winery was founded in 1880 in the Maipo Valley. It is located 40km south of the city. The current most popular brand of the winery is “120”, named after 120 army personnel who took refuge on the estate during the battle of Rancagua.

The winery has magnificent gardens and a boutique hotel that costs 500 USD per night. It also boasts its own church-due to the fact that its original owner was a very religious man. One of the owners was also a fanatic collector of pre Colombian Art- which is now housed in a free museum on site. This collection is very extensive and has gold pieces that I had not even seen in the museum in Santiago! There is a total of 3,000 pieces that are well displayed and described, and included earthenware, textiles and metal work.

After this winery we went to lunch- having an opportunity to meet the others in the group and chat. While most of the group was Spanish they introduced themselves, when all of a sudden people around the table started clapping-being behind on story here I inquired as to what was happening. The couple next to me were on their honeymoon. Upon finding this out the Mexican lady sitting opposite me, says that she has something to wish them well with- Elxir de Amor (Elixir of love) – and whips a hip flask filled with tequila from her handbag. To this we all passed the flask around the table and drank to their health- SALUT!

Concha Y Toro – the second winery for the day, is located in Pirque. It is the largest producer of wine in Latin America! It was founded in 1883. The company is listed on the Santiago and New York Stock Exchange.

The brand is best known for its “Casillero del Diablo” / Cellar of the Devil range of wines.

I asked out guide as to the numbers of visitors they have daily… low season is about 300 to 400 and high season- 1000 per day!!

As a matter of fact Chilean wines are very cheap- not because they are nasty- but because the wine is not taxed. A good bottle of wine will set you back 5-10 USD. On another side note…books are taxed at 19% in Chile … leading the to the highest illiteracy levels in Latin America!

Chile South America

Easter Island

So named due to the landing of Europeans on the island on Easter in 1722, the island is better known as Rapa Nui to the locals. No one is 100% sure as to where or when the first people arrived on the island. DNA tests have shown Polynesian descent- not as previously thought that locals came from the South American mainland- as per the famous Norwegian Kon Tiki sailing.

Some words that you should understand:

Moai: the statues that the island is well known for

Ahu: the platforms upon which the statues stand. The name proceeding “Ahu” is the name of the statue/ congregation of statues.

Pukao: the top knot/ head piece that some statues have.

Something to note is that the Rapa Nui language is not a written language and thus there is no written record of all the “hows and whys”- information has been passed down verbally from generation to generation.

The question that most people have is why the Moai were put up in the first place. They were carved and erected after the passing of someone important in a given tribe. It is said that the person who died –the ancestor’s mana (spirit/ nearly like a good karma) would then stay and watch over the tribe. All Moai are facing inland-facing the area of land where the tribe lives- to protect their tribes…all bar one. Ahu Akivi faces west- towards to ocean. It is assumed that it actually faces the island from which the original settlers were thought to have come from (Marquesas); and thereby protects that tribe.

Moai protection was relevant as long as you could see the Moai from any part of the land that it protected- lets refer to it as the area of influence.

The Moai are nearly all made of volcanic ash- found in one area of the island- Rano Raraku- or the quarry. Very few statues were made of basalt. There are hundreds of statues that remain here in various phases of carving and transport. All tribes on the island carved their Moai at the quarry and made certain to use the limited material that they had wisely. You can thus find Moai carved left/ right/ upside down/ diagonally etc.

The Moai were “walked” from Rano Raraku –the quarry- to their location. The latest theory is that long ropes were thrown around the statues and they were inched / wobbled from side to side and “walked” to their final Ahu- or platform. The base of the Moai is a D-shape which allowed for this; but also made them susceptible to toppling over. Once a Moai toppled then it was left in place as it was believed that the mana was gone.

One can tell whether a Moai made it to its Ahu/platform and toppled over once there or toppled before arriving to his platform. The reason behind this is that the eyes are only finished once the Moai is in place on top of the Ahu. What that means is that the eyes are carved out V shape at the quarry, then once atop the Ahu, they got carved out to be concave and finished off by adding white coral to be the white of the eye and black obsidian to be the pupil of the eye.

The top knots are mined from the red scoria quarry- Puna Pau. They were transported separately and the largest is 2m high!! (it belongs to the largest transported Moai- at 12m high and 80t in weight!!) The name of this Moai is Ahu Te Pito Kura. For a theory of how the Pukao were placed on top of the heads of the Moai see this link.

The statues that are standing on the island have all been restored- all statues had been pulled down by the Rapa Nui people when they stopped believing in their powers. When exactly this happened it is not known. When Europeans came to the island in late 1700s their records showed that they helped the locals pull down the last standing Moai. On trips dating from 1722 through 1804 the number of standing Moai reduced at each encounter.

Orongo- which is in the very south of the island is dominated by the Rano Kau crater- is the place known for the Birdman competition. The competition included the strongest men in the island competing by climbing down a sheer 300m cliff face, swimming around an islet, climbing up cliffs to get to the top and getting the first laid egg of the tern that nests here. They could of course wait a few weeks for them to first get there! Then the winner needs to swim back from the island and climb back up the cliff without breaking the egg. The winner gets the palest virgin as a prize and to rule for a year-until the next competition. The ritual ended when Christianity was introduced to the island. It is worthwhile noting that Red Bull came to the island a few years ago to determine whether to have a modern day competition and said that it was far too dangerous and they wouldn’t!!!

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Santiago de Chile

As the capital city of Chile, one would expect a stack of things to do and see, however it is a bit underwhelming.

There are some heritage, old European style buildings, a few modern skyscrapers, but otherwise the architecture is pretty bland and I would even say dirty- nothing a lick of paint couldn’t fix.

I was lucky to spend a weekend with a Chilean friend of mine whom I met in Whyalla, Australia.

The first thing on the list on Saturday was to organise a ticket to Easter Island- having had issues with paying with my debit card online since being in South Africa, this was eventually sorted after a couple of hours- it wasn’t easy- but it got sorted!

Lunch was at the central market- a traditional corn pie called Pastel De Choclo. Which has mincemeat and chicken with a thick, glazed topping of corn.

In the afternoon we walked through Park Forestral – the city’s central park -and came across hundreds of people. We were both excited- thinking we have come across something good happening-like a festival- it turned out that everyone was there chasing Pokemons !!

On Sunday we did an East (rich suburbs) to West (poor suburbs) trip via the metro and buses to see all sides of the city. The eastern most stop of Metro 1 is Los Dominicos . Here one finds the church of the same name, after the first order of monks that arrived here and a very diverse market of Chilean products –leather, copper, horse hair art called crin (see this link for an example- it’s very fine work!), ponchos and traditional gaucho (cowboy) hats.

As my friend was ensuring that I taste traditional Chilean food- I had my first Empanada – “pino”- which is with mincemeat, onions, half a boiled egg and an olive. I must say that I find Chilean food bland- like the buildings …. It lacks a bit of spice, not heat, but spice.

We then travelled west by bus all the way to Maipu suburb, and as you do so you can see the poverty more as time progressed. The Basilica of the Virgin del Carmen (Patron Saint of Chile) is located here. The structure is absolutely enormous and has a grand stained glass window. It was built between 1948 and 1974, in place of several previously damaged chapels/ cathedrals that were placed in the exact position where the fight for independence of Chile was won after the Army of the Andes asked for intercession when fighting against the Spanish and won.

Museums are closed on Mondays- as in pretty much ALL museums, so I did a walking tour that commences in Plaza de Armas at 10am and 3pm daily. I always enjoy doing these as you get a good summary of history and way around the main attractions. It is also on this tour that I learned about “coffee with legs”. This was started by a female entrepreneur in the 70s to entice people to drink the bad coffee in Chile…so what is it? Coffee bars where you stand around bar type tables and are served your coffee by scantily dressed ladies. Clearly this is more popular with the men… and there isn’t a ladies option for me to enjoy 🙁 .

Tuesday was my cultural museum day. I visited the National Museum- which unfortunately didn’t have English descriptions; after which I spent a large portion of the early afternoon in the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. This has the history of Chile prior to European settlement and was interesting – I hadn’t recalled that the Inca empire stretched all the way to Santiago area. The Museum exhibits artefacts and describes the history and use thereof- like the spatulas that Shamans used to empty their stomach contents prior to getting high on their chosen concoctions.

Excited to see some of the arty bits of the city the next two Museums (MAVI and Museum Belles Artes) and their exhibitions were a letdown. I do not profess to have any knowledge of art but do find some pieces interesting/intriguing when I visit “arty” places… however I left uninspired!

I do have a love of old libraries- and the National Library of Chile did not disappoint- when walking into the old majestic library rooms the perfume of old books is in the air and it feels like if you are going back decades in time! Below are some photos of the library and a few other buildings of note.

The area around the student house (with chairs etc hanging out of the windows???) has several spaces where people come together to practice their dancing/ juggling/ street art and you can just go there and watch. Several galleries are located in close proximity.