Off to a great start — An Elegant Sufficiency

It was a glorious morning in Santiago! For us, however, it was time to move on. We had a 10.30am departure time so after breakfast we chilled in the peace of our room, anticipating a bit of a scrum in the lobby. We needn't have worried however, for everything was quiet, well organised and at 10.30am on the dot, the ground agent blew a kiss to our driver and we were off.

We were headed for Valparaiso, one of the closest ports to the capital city. It involved an hour and a half driving, through a variety of landscape. First, there were wooded hills and a fertile valley in between. Our guide Marisol pointed out the remains of a disused copper mine, the chimney just peeking out above the trees.

Soon we were driving through vineyards, many planted on the hillsides to take advantage of the weather pattern and the prevailing winds.

That we were arriving in Valparaiso became apparent when, suddenly, we spotted buildings perched high above the road, somewhat precariously we thought. I remembered the city as being set on steep hillsides from previous visits and quite looked forward to being here again.

A huge - huge - fleamarket was going on down the central reservation of the road into the city but here and there, along the pavement, there were a few traders selling all kinds of bits and pieces. All rather different from the high-end Santiago suburb we'd just left behind.

A little further on, I spotted one of the funicular railways I recalled from that previous visit. There were several here and there, though mostly no longer functioning and some clearly dismantled. I was wondering how people manage these incredibly steep inclines these days when I was distracted…

I looked the other way and spotted a white funnel above the dockyards.

Mariner was berthed over the other side of the port waiting. First, we needed to check in however, in a departure hall some distance from the embarkation point. All of that done, we jumped on a shuttle bus and were soon stepping onto that gangplank and being handed a glass of champagne.

Welcome Aboard!

Our rooms not quite ready, we found one of our favourite tables on the outside deck and sat watching the balletic movements of the container cranes loading the ship just next door. The speed and precision of the process was amazing and as always, I would have loved to have known what was inside each of those containers. Was it wine? Cars? The contents of someone's home? Fascinating!

Whilst we were watching the loading procedure, the couple on the next table had spotted a seal, sunning himself on the bow extension of the container vessel. He seemed quite content!

Meanwhile, there in the background, the light was reflecting from the windows of vehicles making their way up and down those incredibly steep hillsides. It was all very entertaining!

Arriving in our room shortly afterwards, we looked outside to see we had company. A small tug was just sitting off our starboard side and I added it to my “tugs of the world” collection of photos.