We were late docking in Valparaiso because a container ship
was still loading in our berth. This
appears to be a very disorganised part of the world. Again, we were advised not to wear jewellery
or take valuables ashore because of the high level of local crime.
Although some where deeply sceptical that this advice was
OTT it happened to be spot on. It was reported that 5 people had been accosted. One lady held onto her bag and was dragged,
together with the chair she was sitting on in Starbucks, into the street where
she sustained severe grazing. I think they ran away without the bag. Another man had his wallet containing $200
stolen and a lady had her necklace snatched from her neck. Another
couple asked a taxi to take them somewhere.
He took them into a very poor part of town and demanded money to take
them back to where they actually wanted to go.
Valparaiso is one of Chile’s oldest cities and Santiago is
75 miles away. I elected not to take the 4 hour round trip to Santiago and
instead went on a half day narrated drive through Valparaiso which included a
visit to a the Fonck Museum. The guide was
easy on the ear, very informative and didn’t keep us captured inside the museum
for over 2 hours! That was a great
blessing. Outside the museum was a moai, one of the original ancient monoliths
from Easter Island. I’m so please to
have seen this and if you read you’ll discover why.
We then drove through the ritzy and affluent seaside town of
Vina del Mar, then back to the graffiti, rubble strewn Valparaiso. Good to be back on mother ship again.
Our next stop should have been Easter Island. Governed by Chile, this is one of the most
remote islands in the world, over 2,300 miles from Chile and 2,500 miles from
Tahiti.
However, only 1 ship in 4 ships manage to land there due to
adverse sea conditions and yesterday (10th August) we were informed
by the Captain that we are one of the unlucky ones. There is currently a deep depression moving
across the southern Pacific, bringing with it large swells and high winds which
would severely affect our passage to Tahiti. So goodbye Easter and Pitcairn
Islands, hello Moorea on 16th August. The Captain deemed that the safety of guests
and crew was the highest priority. I’ll
go along with that one.
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