South America

Last Stops in South America: Cartagena and Santa Marta Columbia

The latest adventure is heading toward the closing chapter. After spending the last 2 days touring in Columbia, we will be heading out for Aruba, St. Bart’s and then Fort Lauderdale, where we will disembark. For some reason or other the cruise lines refer to this as “debarking” the ship rather than disembarking, but I refuse to go along with this construction.

Cartagena seen from the Sea

While in Columbia we explored Cartagene on one day and then Santa Marta the next. They are both beautiful and very clean cities—at least the sections we visited—which included the old historical parts of these cities. And they are old—founded as they were in the 16th century, later gaining their independence from Spain during the 19th century under the leadership of Simon Bolivar, whose statues are everywhere. Makes George Washington look like a piker in the statue department. Around the same time (with leadership from Bolivar and General San Martin) Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela won their independence.

 

Speaking of Venezuela, the story doesn’t change much. Venezuelans have flooded into Columbia because food, medicines and other necessities are in short supply thanks to the wonders of Socialism.  20 years ago, Venezuela was the richest nation in South America. Now it’s a basket case. You can see Venezuelans on the streets in Columbia (and Ecuador) selling water and trinkets trying to get by.

 

Columbia has made great strides over the years, largely defeating the drug cartels and the FARC and other radical groups. There is still plenty of work to do, but Cartagena and Santa Marta are mostly safe, and economic growth has resumed. Medellin—past center of the drug trade and home to Pablo Escobar—saw its murder rate drop to its lowest level in 40 years although it is still high at 20.17 per 100,000.  By comparison, the homicide rate in Chicago jumped to 18.6 per 100,000 by the end of 2015. New York City had a homicide rate under half that at 7 per 100,000.

 

Anyway, Columbia is a fascinating place with lots to see. Some photos are below.

 

JFB

Santa Marta Side Street
Cartagena Dancers
Public Square in Cartagena
At the Beach in Santa Marta

 

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Located on the western bank of the Guayas River, Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city (pop 2.7 million) and its main port. It was founded in 1538 by Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana. The city suffered a series of attacks and looting by French and English pirates over the years. By the 19th century Ecuador won its independence from Spain and became a sovereign country.

 

Ecuador is currently on a drive to attract tourism and international business—just like everybody else. Part of the project involves the apparently successful creation of a waterfront promenade in Guayaquil complete with restaurants, offices and hotels. Guayaquil also has a thriving arts community with an Arts district in the city that houses and galleries. We visited both places–some photos are below.

Large Ferris Wheel Juts out from the Promenade

 

One of the problems Ecuador is attempting to deal with is the flow—becoming a flood—of refugees from Venezuela. To no one’s surprise (excepting Noam Chomsky) the worker’s paradise founded by Chavez, now presided over by Maduro, has been a crashing failure just like all the others. And so people are exiting for Ecuador, Columbia and Peru in an attempt to find food and medicine and other necessities. Venezuela’s neighbors have now shut their borders. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Cyclists in the Arts District
Modern Architecture on the Promenade
Walkway In the New Part of the City

JFB

 

Lima, Peru

Lima, is a coastal city and the capital of Peru. It is home to over 10 million people and is the 3rd largest city in the Americas, behind only Sao Paulo and Mexico City. About one third of Peru’s population lives in the Lima Metropolitan area. And like much of South America, the population is differentiated by where they live. People who are partly of European descent are more likely to live in the coastal and more prosperous cities. Indigenous people are more likely to live in the highlands or the Amazon.

 

Part of the differentiation is the result of the colonial past that still has an extraordinarily powerful influence on contemporary South American societies. Another (related) reason is that desert and the Andes mountains separate the two. The Andes mountains stop the rain from reaching the coastal areas, the result being vast desert areas that extend from near, and sometimes all the way to, the Pacific Coast. It is a bit of a strange sight to see the desert right up against the Pacific shoreline.

Desert by the Pacific

We spent two days in Peru, mostly in Lima. While there we visited the Barranco District, a bohemian section of town that is home many of Peru’s most famous artists, including nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, one of my personal favorites. It is a beautiful section of town, with beautiful museums and architecture, and a spectacular view of the Pacific. It’s well worth a visit.

Artist Studio in Lima
Classical Architecture in the Barranco District
A Street Merchant

JFB

Iquique, Chile

Iquique, a town of 181,000 people, is located in northern Chile on the Pacific coast. Originally part of Peru, it had a large Chilean population. But as a result of the War of the Pacific (1879—1883) Peru ceded it to Chile where is has remained since.

 

The town developed rapidly with the discovery of mineral riches in the Atacama Desert during the 19th century. Mining saltpeter was particularly lucrative for a while, but eventually a way was discovered to make it synthetically, and that spelled doom for many mining towns, the remnants of which can be seen today in the desert—which is the driest hot desert on the planet.

 

After docking at Iquique, we went out to see Humberstone, about 30 miles away. It is one of the abandoned “ghost towns” that dot the landscape. Actually, desert scape is probably a better way to describe the town, which was designated a UNESCO cultural heritage sight in 2005.

Humberstone Ghost Town, a UNESCO world heritage site
Abandoned Buildings in Humberstone

After making our way back to Iquique proper we went to an opulent club off the town square to have some Pisco sours, after which we looked around the very attractive town square, saw a demonstration, and headed back to the ship.

Protestors Demonstrating in Iquique
The Iquique Town Square–note the mountains in the background

Iquique is the last port if call in Chile for us, so we are now headed off for Peru to see what awaits is there. Some photos from Iquique and Humberstone are below.

 

JFB

Here We Are in South America

We arrived in Chile, which means we are also approaching the end of our journey. From here we travel up the west coast of South America, making stops in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia and Panama. After that it really is the last leg that will take us through the Caribbean and then on to Florida.

 

Our first port of call in South America was the port city Valparaiso, Chile. Rather than stay in Valparaiso we chose to go inland to the capital city, Santiago, for a day. It is an elegant and sophisticated city where the European influence is very strong. With its wide boulevards, classical architecture and parks, the city bears more than a passing resemblance to some of the great cities of Europe, especially Paris and Madrid. With about 6.5 million people, greater Santiago is home to about 36% of the nation’s population of 18 million.

 

When we arrived in Santiago we visited Club Hipico, the oldest racing track in Chile. Its architecture is classically elegant—the kind of thing you’d be more likely to associate with a museum than a racetrack. (See photos below). We also visited a national park, essentially planted and grown from scratch. And of course, we had lunch, with some fine Chilean wines, in a restaurant in the park, set up like a small version of Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

 

We will be off before long to visit some of the smaller cities of Chile, and we’ll see how that goes. Regardless, Santiago is a place you don’t want to miss—along with the very fine wines.

JFB

Club Hipico in Santiago, Chile
Viewing Stands for the Races
Looking out the Stained glass doors of the club
The Presidential Palace in Santiago

Crossed the Equator!

We have crossed the Equator!                                                        February 3, 2016

 

This morning we crossed the equator, and we are on our way to Samoa (we’ll be there Friday). There is a ton of water under this ship and it’s warmer than the air that surrounds us (water is about 90 degrees F, air is about 88 degrees F). As you look out from the ship, all you see is water, nice blue sky, and puffy white clouds. Joe will post some pix so you can see what we are seeing. It’s like there is no one else in the world. Just amazing.

After we visit Samoa, our trip gets a lot more active, with fewer days at sea, and more frequent stops for the next 90+ days. This has been a good vacation thus far, but we’ll be on the move after this. Hopefully we’ll have some good pictures to show you.

The vibe on the ship is changing over time. It seems that people got settled in during the first few days, and are now in a very friendly state of mind. Doubtless the many classes have provided people with a chance to know each other, so now we see each other outside the classroom and have time to meet, introduce spouses and friends, etc. The US Presidential race provides every single person on this ship, regardless of nationality or political preferences, an opportunity to comment on the situation. A constant source of amusement, tinged with concern about events in the world.

I heard someone say that the average age on the ship is 87, and that might be true. I hope that when I am 87 I am in the condition of most of these fellow passengers!

Best,

MA