Insane Clown Fisheries
My Valpo experience
The Valparaíso tour started off as all good tours do: with a suicide mission
The War of the Pacific was fought between Chile and an alliance of Peru and Bolivia, principally over who got control of the nitrate and saltpeter resources in what is now northern Chile. Based on that statement, I’ll let you guess who won the war.
The monument is to one of the opening engagements: the Battle of Iquique. I referred to it as a “suicide mission” for the simple reason that it was; the old wooden ship Emeralda had nothing at all that could penetrate the armor of the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar. But that doesn’t matter! Because the brave last stand and refusal to surrender by the Chileans resulted in a wave of patriotism that inspired thousands of young men to join the fight. If you had ever wondered why Bolivia has no coastline, this war is your answer.
Anyway, there are far more beautiful things to see in Valpo than this one monument, which we basically didn’t even talk about during the tour. First we took their light rail to the fish market.
To say the fish market was lively would be quite the understatement. Large crowds being served from dozens of stalls rapidly distributed the catch of the morning.
The fishing method seemed to be limited to small independent outfits using drag lines
And small boats adorned by literal waking nightmares.
Not all of the fish parts can be used of course, and there was steady competition for the remainder among the seabirds and some big fat seals.
We traveled up a funicular nearby, into the nearby residential area on the north part of the bay. Our walk back down was punctuation by some of the gorgeous murals that are endemic and ever changing in Valparaíso.
We gradually descended to the square outside the Congress building. This legislature was moved to Valpo at the behest of Pinochet and, appropriately, was the site of numerous protests during 2019. Our guide, Sebastian, was living right next to the building.
The square was filled with merchants and stalls selling some produce but mostly consumer goods - shoes, clothing, toys. A large revival-style band was playing:
Fun fact: recent accounts suggest evangelical Christians now outnumber Catholics in South America.
A bus trip to another funicular and we started to approach closer to where I was staying and the highest density of murals in the city. A few highlights:
Finally, I trail-blazed a new addition to the hanky code: “it’s too hot and I am tired and am up for snuggling” (no takers)
