Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile

Today we visited the small port town of Coquimbo (pronounced koh-keem-bvoh) which is the port for the larger La Serena (population 400,000). We opted to explore the port town rather than the larger city to its north. It was cool because it was partially fogged in, and there was (of course) a half-sunk ship 50’ off of the coast. (Whenever I see these, I wonder if they sailed thousands of miles to get there, then hit a rock and sunk 45 seconds before getting to the coast…)

Discovered in 1867, for centuries the city was attacked by pirates, spurring legends regarding mysterious treasures. I’ll be darned if we didn’t strike gold! Well, kind of struck gold. Due to the lack of green and red chili, we’ve been craving some spices. We meandered the streets and discovered the long-lost treasure in the form of a grocery store. And what an adventure it is to shop in a foreign country. We eventually found some hot red pepper flakes, and a 3-pepper grinder. They both turned out to be a good addition, and will likely accompany us to meals from here on out…

After some additional browsing, our previous research paid off.  We also bought a bottle of top rated Chilean Carméwnère red wine. This medium bodied red has hints of blah blah blah. (Sorry. Meant to say it tastes dang good!)

The exchange rate is about 1000 Chilean Pesos to 1 US Dollar, so it seems really expensive, but it is not so much. We also got a kick out of the security guards (with face-covering (not COVID) masks) all over the store. 

It turns out you had to go next door, to a big mall, if you needed the potty, so we got an unexpected brief visit to see what a South American mall was like. (Exactly like malls back home…)

On the way back to the ship, we enjoyed some empanadas a local beer (yum, one of the best I’ve ever had) and an awesome Pisco Sour. 

I am going to see if I can buy some Pisco tomorrow at our last stop. It is really something special, and it is only made in Chile. 

Continuing back to the ship, the fog lifted, and we were able to get some cool photos of the giant cross on the hill that serves as the city’s landmark.

Our final stop before embarking was the cool (mostly) outdoor market. Pretty different. We especially liked the fish market section. 

Okay, as promised, here is the Chile Dog story. First let me thank our good friend Susan W. for coming up with the name Chile Dogs.

Everywhere we stop in Chile, we’ve noticed that there are dogs everywhere. They all seem really friendly. Most seem like they live on the streets, but they all seem well fed. We saw one at the grocery store that stood in the doorway lookin’ in, but never crossed the threshold. (Well trained!)

Here are some pictures of the Chile Dogs. There is also a good article about this written on Michael Turtle’s Web site. 

Chau. (Traditional Chilean fair well.)