March 2023

March 2023 - June 2025

Current

Circumnavigating South America! Read more

Currently traveling

List of countries

Chile
Uruguay
Argentina
Brazil
Saint Helena

Categories

Around the world, Couple, Cruise ship, Culture, Photography, Self discovery

10.5kmiles traveled

Means of transport

Flight2,478kilometers
Walking-kilometers
Hiking-kilometers
Bicycle-kilometers
Motorbike-kilometers
Tuk Tuk-kilometers
Car-kilometers
Train-kilometers
Bus-kilometers
Camper-kilometers
Caravan-kilometers
4x4-kilometers
Swimming-kilometers
Paddling/Rowing-kilometers
Motorboat-kilometers
Sailing-kilometers
Houseboat-kilometers
Ferry-kilometers
Cruise ship-kilometers
Horse-kilometers
Skiing-kilometers
Hitchhiking-kilometers
Cable car-kilometers
Helicopter-kilometers
Barefoot-kilometers

Oldest first

Footprints
Photos

Traveler March 2023
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- Day 22
- Mar 29, 2023, 1:42pm
- Altitude: 26 ft
- Chile Punta San Antonio -33.587845, -71.61350333°35’16” S 71°36’49” W
Chile vs Texas Flag
March 29, 2023 in Chile
Today we are in San Antonio. San Antonio, Chile. Not Texas. I say that because the Chilean flag looks so much like the Texan flag, that I keep doing double takes. I wonder why they look so similar, and which flag came first. Where’s Sheldon Cooper when you need him?Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 22
- Mar 29, 2023, 12:41pm
- ☀️ 70 °F
- Altitude: 39 ft
- Chile Estación San Antonio -33.58243, -71.61401333°34’57” S 71°36’50” W
1
Seaside Memorial
March 29, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
Another pleasant surprise for me in San Antonio was the collection of memorials along the promenade.

Ports sometimes feature a plaque with the names of those lost at sea, but I’d never seen anything like these. They remind me of roadside memorials for car accident victims that are a common feature around the world.

Fresh flowers and colorful pinwheels adorn many of these memorials, but my favorite sight was sea lions and seagulls lounging among the commemorative plaques.Read more
Traveler I love the sentiment inscribed on Bernardino’s memorial 💕
4/2/23Reply
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 22
- Mar 29, 2023, 12:09pm
- ☀️ 68 °F
- Altitude: 82 ft
- Chile Estación San Antonio -33.583747, -71.61324533°35’1” S 71°36’48” W
Fish Market & Seals
March 29, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
Our ship docked in San Antonio, so it was a 2 hour bus ride to Santiago. After spending so much time in transit yesterday, we decided to simply wander around the port town. Even though the WhatsInPort website said there was very little to do, simply taking a walk sounded better than sitting on a bus for hours.

Much to our surprise, there is a lovely seaside promenade leading to a charming fish market and a dock where sea lions enjoyed scraps tossed over by locals fishing on the pier.

Along the way, I bought some pan pipes and a recorder to add to my musical instrument collection.

The weather was in the 70s with a nice breeze. Wonderful walking weather and such a lovely day!Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 21
- Mar 28, 2023, 1:10pm
- Altitude: 56 ft
- Chile Museo de Arqueología e Historia Francisco Fonck -33.019736, -71.55004233°1’11” S 71°33’0” W
Moai Museum
March 28, 2023 in Chile
Included in Chile’s 16 ethnic groups are the people of Easter Island aka the Rapa Nui.

Sadly, when Larry and I visited Easter Island in 2019, the seas were too rough for us to disembark. For two days we circled the island, staring wistfully at the iconic stone statues lining the shore, wishing for calm seas that never came.

So we were happy to see this moai in Vina Del Mar. The Fonck Museum features items from Chile’s diverse ethnic groups.

We even saw a trio of shrunken heads. Yikes!
The second floor was dedicated to Chilean wildlife. I was especially taken aback by this giant armadillo.

We would have enjoyed more time there.Read more
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- Day 21
- Mar 28, 2023, 12:55pm
- ☀️ 66 °F
- Altitude: 92 ft
- Chile Caleta Abarca -33.023322, -71.56735333°1’24” S 71°34’2” W
Flower Clock
March 28, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
The cities of Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar are connected. Even so, it’s easy to tell when you’ve passed from one city into the next because the graffiti is suddenly replaced with an abundance of plants.

A green thumb seems just as mandatory here as a can of spray paint is in Valparaiso.

The centerpiece for Vina del Mar is a colorful clock made of flowers. Not only is the time accurate, but it has a functional second hand.

And, of course, a sleeping street dog finished up the scene.Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 21
- Mar 28, 2023, 12:06pm
- ☀️ 64 °F
- Altitude: 230 ft
- Chile Punta Duprat -33.031517, -71.63047833°1’53” S 71°37’50” W
Valparaiso
March 28, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
The ship’s included tour took us to the neighboring cities of Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar.

Our guide was nice, but a bit of a dud. We’ve had some wonderful guides on this voyage; the ones in Cyprus, Jordan, and Jerusalem are standouts in my mind. Why? Because they painted a picture of daily life in their countries. I came away with a deeper understanding.

This guy, alas, was armed with a few important historic dates, and he knew the names of several tree species, but that was it. We spent 90% of the ride in silence. Oh, well!
Win some, lose some.

My impressions of Valparaiso:
Steep streets with colorful houses stacked on top of each other. Graffiti and murals galore.

An abundance of gingerbread houses speaks of a Victorian Era heyday. Many neighborhoods seemed fire swept.

A condor-topped colonnade caught my eye. Wonder what the story is there? I also got a kick out of an energetic one-man band who played in the intersection for tips.

Our guide told us that Chileans revere copper, so it’s a popular material for buildings and artwork.

He also mentioned that Chile, which is shaped long and thin like a chile pepper, has 16 ethnic groups. I think the black and white figure in my photos is related to one of those ethnic groups, but I’ll have to look it up later.Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 21
- Mar 28, 2023
- Altitude: Sea level
- South Pacific Ocean -37.05581, -73.98498337°3’21” S 73°59’6” W
Windy Punta Arenas
March 28, 2023, South Pacific Ocean
There’s wind, and then there’s WIND!

In Patagonia, one of the strongest winds is called El Pampero, and it’s a big deal.

In 2019, we learned a lot about El Pampero when visiting Punta Arenas. I’m sharing some photos from that visit here, because this time around, it was too windy for us to stop there.

In 2019, we noticed handrails all over Punta Arenas. Our guide explained that these are for safety. He said people sometimes get stuck while walking in high winds. They hang onto the rails until they can be rescued!

As we exited the ship, there was a tunnel to shield us from wind followed by a handrail for support.

As for the photo of the shoeshine man, I simply thought it was cute that the local newspaper is called “El Pinguino.”Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 21
- Mar 28, 2023, 5:48am
- ☀️ 55 °F
- Altitude: Sea level
- South Pacific Ocean -37.287362, -74.07245637°17’15” S 74°4’21” W
So many dolphins!!!
March 28, 2023, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
Larry often jokes that I should be on a search and rescue team because I’m able to spot sea life so easily. What’s frustrating, though, is when I can’t point them out to others. Not so today…

Today was a treat! We’ve witnessed so much sea life: Dolphins, whales, seabirds, seals…

It started with whale spouts right after breakfast. The Shortly after, we traveled beside the largest pod of dolphins I’ve ever seen. It lasted for 20 minutes, judging by the time stamps on my photos.

It was fun to hear people’s joyful exclamations in other languages. I heard a lot of “mamma mias,” from the Italians and I noticed that they called the dolphins, “delfini panda,” aka “panda dolphins” since they were black and white.

Sadly, none of my photos are good enough to share. (I finally gave up and simply enjoyed the spectacle.)

However, the buffet serendipitously featured a dolphin ice sculpture today, so I’ll use that as the featured photo for this post, instead.Read more
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 19
- Mar 26, 2023, 12:57pm
- ☀️ 57 °F
- Altitude: 20 ft
- Chile Caleta Angelmó -41.479671, -72.95246141°28’47” S 72°57’9” W
Chilean Mystery Bird
March 26, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
I saw some beautiful birds today: grebes, cormorants, and even a pair of black necked swans.

The species in these photos, however, is a real puzzler. At first I thought it was a solitary raptor, but as we walked along the seaside park, I saw several of them.

What makes it strange is that they look like raptors, but they hang out in flower beds. At one point, I saw one run out and eat a beetle.

I searched lists of birds for this area, but no luck. There were a few pigeons and doves in the flowerbeds, too, and they did not seem worried by these raptors.

Very strange!

UPDATE: Thanks to my friend, Heidi, on Facebook, I figured out that this bird is a Chimanga Caracara. They are a type of falcon that behaves just as I described here.Read more
Two to TravelCheck out Tiuque … Chimango Caracara. Seems like it might be that bird.
3/26/23Reply
TravelerI think that’s it! Thank you! Such a cool bird.
3/28/23Reply
TravelerI can ask my sis in law(from San Bernardo, Chile) if you would like. Just shoot me a text
3/26/23Reply
TravelerSeems like a Chimango Caracara. Really cool bird! Thank you.
3/28/23Reply
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Traveler March 2023
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- Day 19
- Mar 26, 2023, 12:39pm
- ☀️ 57 °F
- Altitude: 26 ft
- Chile Port Montt -41.475403, -72.94771341°28’31” S 72°56’52” W
Puerto Montt
March 26, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
We had a nice time roaming around Puerto Montt on this bright, sunny day. Even though it’s Sunday, the local crafts market was open.

Beyond that, the little town was a good place for bird watching as I mentioned in another post.Read more
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