Feb 20 - Valparaiso, Chile

Sam is in the backpack and ready to go into the port city of Valparaiso, Chile. He is going on a bus tour to see the city.

 

Valparaiso has 45 hills that surround the harbor area. It is the main seaport for Chile. There are 300,000 people that live in Valparaiso. Because of all the hills, there are steep roads/sidewalks. Good exercise for the people! Valparaiso was established sometime around 1580 when the Spanish came to the area.

Some of the things that Sam saw from the bus are: the first official library in Chile that was built in 1919; a monument to those that fought in a conflict/war with Peru in 1879; the headquarters for the Chilean navy; the national maritime museum; the building for the first newspaper in South America (1827); the modern Parliament building; a casino that was built in 1914; and the Fonck Museum. At the museum, Sam had a picture taken next to a moai (statue) from Easter Island. Easter Island is part of Chile. It is a five hour plane ride from the coast out into the ocean.

The tour guide shared this information about Chile. It is about 4200 kilometers long from Arica in the north to Puenta Arenas in the south. The widest part of the country is only 250 kilometers.  Valparaiso’s annual rainfall averages 500 milliliters. Copper is the main export for the country of Chile. It is mined from the mountains. Chile won independence from Spain in 1910. The two most popular sports in the country are soccer and “drinking”.

The city next to Valparaiso is Vina del Mar. It is more modern. It was founded in 1874 and is also known as the Garden City. Many of the original houses had garden areas or balconies in the front of the house that were filled with flowers.