3/8 looking back on the last few days

Two days ago we were in Coquimbo (coh-kweem-both) Chile.  We took a drive-around tour of, mostly, the city of La Serena.  Each city has about 210,000 residents and stretches over miles and miles of high-density housing.  It seems one heck of a lot of non-residents keep summer homes there.  It was a pleasant tour.  The guide understood how to show something vaguely boring and explain it in a way that sparks interest.

Day before yesterday we docked in San Antonio, took a shuttle through a small but intensely industrial part of the port, boarded a bus, and drove into the countryside to a winery.  The hills, the edge of The Coastal Mountain range (think of it as the foothills of the Andes) was scrubby and somewhat forested.

 'Somewhat' because the native forest has been logged.  The native trees were replaced by Eucalyptus.    Heavy drinkers that, since then usual heavy Winter rains have stopped happening, are needed for erosion control but are doing their part to increase desertification.  The wine had a great nose.  The buffet luncheon was delightful.  If ever we get a stable internet connection, I will download a few photos.

Yesterday was a sea day.  Nothing Much happened save for rumors about the ship's noro outbreak.  As an inherent researcher I traced various rumors (future ports are refusing to let us dock, half the crew is ill - that's why service is so poor) all appear to be just rumors (the port cities need tourist money, the service was iffy before the outbreak).

Today we are somewhere else doing something else.  With luck, the scenery is lovely.

With luck we keep an internet connection.......not too many satellites zooming around this far South.