ADVENTURES IN COQUIMBO

On our fourth visit to this twin town--the other being La Serena, 13 km. north, we were happily surprised when we got word that we would NOT be tendering but would dock along side.  A tsunami last September destroyed much of the infrastructure along the shore, including in the port area; only the outer shell of the small but attractive terminal is still standing. 

One block up the street, Scotia Bank survived very well, thanks to a solid wall facing the shore and along the street up which the tsunami traveled.  Coquimbo is built on hills and we could see destruction at least a third of  the way up the hills--collapsed houses, landslides, vacant lots.  This damage, however was the result of unusual and heavy rains (this, after all, is the southern end of the Atacama desert, the world's driest) that caused poorly built houses to collapse and land to head toward the sea.

We walked up to  the central square, which has a lovely metal tribute to Pablo  Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, Chile's two great Nobel laureates in literature.  Mistral was born in Vicuña, about  50 km. inland from Coquimbo in the Elqui Valley and is much celebrated in these parts.  We were looking for WiFi when a young woman stopped and--in almost perfect English--asked if we needed directions.  This led to a conversation about the tsunami, an introduction to her mother and sister, and an offer to take our picture in front of the Mistral-Neruda memorial.  Then I offered to take her and her sister's picture--with a broadly smiling David. 

She then told us that there was WiFi in the bus terminal, 2  blocks away and the family walked us part-way. Unfortunately, while there is WiFi and several routers, no one had a password.  We walked outside and a taxi driver offered his services.

Nicolas is a heavy equipment driver for a mining company who has been laid off because of the plunge in copper prices.  He's back home in Coquimbo driving a cab until he's recalled.  I asked about the tsunami and Nicolas related his family's story.  His mother has a kiosk in the market that stretched along the waterfront, three blocks from the central plaza.  Thee earthquake struck at 5:00 p.m. and the Chilean Navy almost immediately sounded the alarm, a piercing siren that sent everyone running up hill.  Nicolas had just returned from the mine and had left his backpack with  his mother.  Everyone escaped and only three people died--all of them "indigents" who lived on the street near the waterfront.  The next day Nicolas went  back to see if he could find his backpack--and found it two blocks away with its waterlogged contents.  It was all salvageable, he said, except for the pictures of his children.  His mother lost everything but has reopened her kiosk.

Nicolas dropped us at the restaurant where we are meeting Peggy and Jim Stewart, friends from the Whitby Yacht Club.  Their son is a mining engineer, married to a Chilean.  They have two children and Peggy and Jim are down for a few weeks to get to  know their newest grandchild.

Unfortunately, the restaurant where we were to  meet has no WiFi but the one next door does--two in a line of restaurants facing the sea.  The signal, however, was very weak and it was impossible to upload blog posts and photos--another frustrating day with Internet connections, or lack thereof. 

Still, our encounters with the Chileans we have met today forcefully reminds me of a comment heard long ago:  "Los Chilenos son los simpaticos de América Latina."  Chileans are the nicest people in Latin America.