George and Deborah's Great Adventures: 11/18/18

We have been very busy here in Santiago so this will be a long post. At the time of this writing, we are waiting for our car service to transfer us to San Antonio. San Antonio is the departure port for our 14-day cruise around the horn of South America.

To say our experience in Santiago didn’t start well, would be an understatement.

The Sommelier Hotel is located in the historic centre of the city. The location is in the heart of the former business district (since moved to the “new” part of the city), therefore it is not surprising that our hotel is bookended by strip clubs. According to our city guide, it was customary for businessmen to come down from the office for coffee a few times a day and gaze at the local talent before returning to work. For us, the location was great, with easy access to many of the parts of the city we wanted to see.

Shortly after our arrival, we set out for an evening walk to explore our neighbourhood in the city of 7 million. It was a beautiful evening with the temperature around 24 C. The sidewalks and streets were full of people. We wandered two blocks to the major walking/driving boulevard, Alameda. Everything seemed right with the world but then we senes things changing.

Action on the six-lane boulevard slowed to a stop. The steady stream of cars became a trickle and the sound of sirens filled the air while a few police cars raced by. We saw some black smoke spiraling on the horizon and assumed a building fire. We continued walking and noticed some shopkeepers hurriedly drawing the metal shutters on their doors. We knew it was two hours before closing so we began to wonder … and then we realized we were quickly being overcome with pedestrian traffic flowing from the opposite direction. It was at this time we knew something bad was happening. People look frightened.

Where Did Everybody Go?

As the crowds disappeared behind us we could see a further two blocks down the road. Cars were burning and I could see (what I assumed) were tear-gas containers hitting the street and exploding and even more people running. We quickly reversed our direction and headed back. Armored military-like troop carriers filled the streets and we came across one man laying on the streets in a pool of blood. Police were attending to him but we couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead, hit by a car, or had been attacked. We went to our room and went to bed feeling unsure about Santiago.three

Bomberos Attending to Burning Cars

The next day we tried to find out what had happened but we got three different stories from three different sources. It seems that protest and clashes with police are common in Santiago. The most likely cause of the “disturbances” was a protest by the Mapuche, an indigenous people of southern Chile. They have been “at war” with the government for the last 300 years over land claims and more. According to the guides, they like to blow shit up. The latest protest occurred after the grandson of a Mapuche indigenous leader was shot in the head last week and killed while driving his tractor in a field. The police said he was accidentally shot during an operation against local car thieves. The government promised to investigate.

Thankfully the next day proved to be so much better than the first.

We took a four-hour walking tour with our guide, Leon. Leon was a 20 something young man native to Santiago. He was both passionate and realistic about his beloved city. I won’t repeat everything we learned but suffice to say it was a lot.

Santiago had its beginning in the 1500’s when the Spanish came looking for gold but didn’t find any. They would have continued south but the Mapuche proved to be too strong to overcome so they stopped. Unlike other colonial cities of the same era, there are few old buildings in the city due to regularly occurring earthquakes. Santiago developed earthquake-proof technology that is now world level leading edge. Remarkably, in the last 8.2 earthquake, no lives were lost and there was no damage to any buildings.

For the most part, I let the pictures tell the story but Leon’s passionate speech about the downfall of Chile’s first socialist leader Salvador Allende is worth noting. His parents were 21-year-olds in 1973 when the CIA (Leon claimed to have read all the released U.S. documents on the subject) and had told him the stories. The CIA poured lots of money into Chile to force the failure of the socialist government. They paid hundred’s of thousands of dollars to the controllers of the food supply demanding they withhold food from the masses. The people were angry and discontent led to revolt and violence. Allende faced a coup and committed suicide rather than surrender to the military. Chile came under the control of the military and democracy was lost for the next 20 years. Thousands of dissidents disappeared during that time.

Santiago Cathedral - 1534 (the walls at least)

Leon & Allende's Last Stand - Presidential Palace

A Great City of Art - Many Murals

Mapuche River

One of the highlights of the tour was Leon’s recommendation for dinner at the Chipe Libre in the Lastarria District. He told us traditional Chilean food is rather boring but the Chipe Libre combines Chilean dishes with a Peruvian touch that makes it some of the best cuisine in the world. Our meal was very memorable. Deborah started with a Pisco Sour and I had a German beer (there is a strong German influence in Chile with entire communities speaking German only dating back to the 1840’s). We had the best ceviche either of us has every experienced and finished with a shared dish of beef, chicken, prawns swimming in zesty Tiger Milk seasoning.