Our hosts at the Yacht Club Higuerrillas turned out to be the friendliest yet. No one was afraid to come by to say hello or ask who we were. We got to know many of the kids in the sailing school program there by name and the Club manager, Francisco attended our every request. We held a presentation, Open House events with boat tours, and kids’ classes. All of which were well attended by very enthusiastic participants.
We were also invited to a luncheon one afternoon by Mauricio and his comrades at the Naval Club in Vina del Mar. We dined with Naval officers and friends which all sounds very classy but, thanks to one man named Ronald, thing were brought back down a notch or two. Ronald is a Chilean Scottsman with a fancy for drinking and dirty jokes. Unfortunately for us, he could even tell them in English. In between conversations over our concerns for the ocean and the environment good ole’ Ron would insert a sex joke, just to keep things interesting.
The next day Mauricio and his wife were kind enough to take me on a tour of Valparaiso. Kirsty and I had tried to go over the a couple days before but despite our best efforts, the best thing we found was the most random street fair I’d ever seen. Among the items lined up in the stands: books, nail polish, flowers, light bulbs, furniture, CDs, and beautiful arrays of carefully laid out plumbing supplies. As cool as that was, I felt I could use another trip into the city.
I had been excited to ride the famous old ascensors that climb the sides of the steep hills of the city. The first one we took was near the busy port. We walked on with several other people and one dog that seemed to know exactly where it was going, and the old pully system kicked into gear. It was a beautiful view and a short ride. At the top the dog walked off first and Mauricio and I followed.
His wife met us at the top in the car and then we went into the Naval and Maritime Museum which used to be Mauricio and Alberto’s Naval school. Mauricio guided me through Chile’s turbulent history of wars at sea, showed me where his mother was born, just next door, and I even got a picture of him with his grandfather’s portrait. It really brought the museum to life. Next, we drove over to La Ascensor de Concepcion to ride one of the most famous ones in the city. I finally felt like I’d seen Valparaiso for the colorful and historic city that it is. What a special treat that day was.
I had no shortage of friends in this city as they seemed to be cropping up everywhere. Chileans are, as I’ve stated before, some of the most amazingly friendly people I have ever met. So before I left I was also invited to the home of Ana Maria and Jorge, whom I’d met at Alberto’s house in Chiloe but live very close to the Yacht Club there in Concon. Jorge is an artist so he invited me over to see his paintings and his studio and I shared a wonderful vegetarian lunch with the three of them. I would love to come back and visit them again in the future.
The boat was scheduled to leave in the morning on a Wednesday but due to the all too common complicated bureaucracy of the Chilean customs system the crew was not able to depart until late that afternoon. It was a great headache all the way around but it didn’t taint our experience with the country in general, which was shining.
I headed out for Santiago with Kirsty and dropped her off at the airport and then vegged out in the airport hotel for another day before I left for Lima.
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