Valparaiso, Chile

It is strange to be 32 degrees South of the Equator, going towards the  end of the road.  In some respects the countryside is becoming more and more like the hills and forests which I am familiar with in North America.   The trees are getting bigger, and definitely greener.  While riding towards Valparaiso this morning, there were two instances where the smell of lavender or sage was almost overwhelming, and again it reminded me of the Great Sage Desert of the United States, where I clearly remember seeing pronghorns and almost got hit by lightening in a powerful summer storm.

Although the landscape and the vegetation is impacted by the latitude and the influence of the Pacific, I sure don't recognize some of the fish being brought ashore by the local fishermen.

These guys had been net fishing for crabs, which is a different way of crabbing than what I am used to.  They had purple and regular looking crabs, albeit a touch small in my view...

They were pulling in what looked to be mostly bottom fish, and some cousins of the cod family no doubt...

Although these guys with the noses did not look at all familiar, and as far as I am concerned, can stay in the South Pacific...

These guys were either flounders or very young halibut...

And these looked like overgrown sardines...or maybe mackeral-like cousins...

These looked the most familiar, and were probably of the cod family...

The fishermen had to launch their long and narrow skiffs into the water by hand, and it was a communal effort to get these big and heavy skiffs into the water, and of course above the tide line at the end of the day...

We followed the coastal road south, and eventually came to Valparaiso.  It was pretty apparent that the wealthy Chileans have carved some pretty nice sea-viewing pads out for themselves...

 We arrived at the pre-arranged hostal,  and were greeted by two nice hounds.  It was a nice change from the Chilean street dogs, who seem to have a particular hate on for motos, and we are constantly swerving to avoid them.  I recommended that we get squirt guns and fill them with vinegar, an old paper-boy trick of my misspent youth....

 Theses guys were happy to see us, and curious about the new lodgers and the new bikes

 Which brought new smells and new possibilities for scratches and pets..

 This guy was the shy one, and it took about 15 minutes to convince him that I was a dog person, and not a cat guy...

 The Tiger is going on a ship to Germany tomorrow, so crating the bike was the order of the afternoon.

 First, the bike has to fit the crate....

 The owners of the hostal are in the business of painting their house, between bikers...

 A picture seen in downtown Valparaiso...

The Tigers' front wheel will come off in the final crating...

 The cleanest Tiger has been in a couple of months...

Finally, a sniff....

 Then a lick...

Not unlike some of my better dates in that aforesaid misspent youth...

Blondy Matures

It was going  happen sooner or later, and there is no better place than Chile for Blondy to finally get some wisdom and experience...She turned 100,000 kilometers today, and I had to document that:

We have been travelling southwards along the Chilean Pacific coast, sometimes a few kilometers from the ocean, and other times right on the beach..

New Years Day found us in Huasco, a small fishing and mining town.  The frieghters in the harbour reminded me of the days in Tahsis, when  the freighters would be loading lumber by the billions of board feet.  Let's hope that the Chileans are smart enough to make sure that their resources are building and sustaining their towns and country....

The motel had a nice garden, and an excellent view of the harbour and the ships...

It appeared that most of the Chileans had January 1st off for a holiday....

During a walkabout, I found what appeared to be a local labour office.  Interestingly, it a had a few posters in the window, and was flying a black flag...

Free Public Education is apparently an issue in this part of the world too...

Feliz Neuvo Ano de Chile

Goodbye 2012, and hello 2013.

2012 was good to me and my Family, and here's hoping for a repeat of the good times.  After moaning about altitude and cold, it seems that Chile has offerred a lot of the opposite: many miles of the Pacific, and yes, lots of Sun...

Before we leave Cusco, lets be clear that the Blond seemed to want to go with just anybody...

After leaving Cusco on Christmas Day, there was some riding to do....

 Through more mountain passes....

 Some high altitude plains....

 to Lake Titicaca...

 Where we met the three Kuwaitis again, on their South American trip...

Lake Titicaca in the background...

 Height of land at 4500 meters....

 And then we ran into Terry and Scott from the Steel Rat and rode with them for a few days....

Did I mention the drops into hidden valleys??

We all ran our tanks dry and had to rely on extra fuel containers.  Gas stations are sometimes hard to find....

Dropping down to the Pacific

Huge, mountainous dunes back up the road and the Pacific...

Terry and Scott from San Francisco....

Starting to look a lot like a desert, to me....

Ran into some more German explorers in another UniMog.  They had just come out of Boliva....

These guys are going to the Dakar....

A former town in the middle of the desert.  They used to produce salt for a living....

 Middle of the Atacama desert....

 Finally drop down to the Pacific again...

Some boats, a town, and some water....

 These coastal towns of Chile are prime targets for Tsunamis.....

A watchtower for the fishermen...

Some serious cannons....

Taltal was established the same year British Columbia became a province... some history here no doubt...

 Some colour and life after the dead, dry, Atacama...

And then back onto the desert for a day of riding....

 and then dropping back to the beautiful Pacific....

Did I mention that gas stations are hard to find?

 New Years digs.....

Party hounds...

 Do you remember this shot, Boys???  And then I told you the story about the hole in the sky.....

 Fresh crabs...

 Even fresher scallops...

 Happy New Year to Everyone....  Have a great time, be safe, and don't eat any funny mushrooms...