Valparaiso is a fun city in Chile!! It is the largest port for the country, so it is quite important for commerce. Yet, there is a large “artsy” feel in the city. These steps are painted with the phrase in English “We are not hippies, we are happies.” This clearly summarizes the unique culture of Valparaiso.As we drove from Santiago to Valparaiso, we stopped at a winery for wine tasting!! Chile is world-famous for their superb wines. As we drove, our guide noted that one valley was known for growing grapes for white wines, while the next valley we drove through was warmer and they grew grapes for red wines in that area. I love Chilean wine!!In Valparaiso, we rode up this cable car to get a nice view of the city!!The importance of the port is clearly seen with the number of cranes and ships in the sea.Unique English spelling!Chile, and especially Valparaiso, is quite colorful!!This old building with unique architecture is being refurbished.A beautiful theme of Valparaiso is the art seen everywhere! Murals are unique, creative, colorful, and often tell a story. I loved looking at them!!The shapes and colors are amazing!! These artists are very talented!!I especially liked this mural because it was so lively and colorful!!Every theme imaginable was painted in the murals!!This home is sort of pie shaped!! On this end, the house is quite narrow. A person inside could almost touch both walls at the same time! However, the home widens significantly on the other end of the house. It is 3 stories, so it is actually a large home.This panther seemed to be a favorite of our group!!This yellow building used to be a British finishing school. It has been remodeled and now has rooms available for rent. I should also mention all the wires strung all over Valparaiso. We were told that all the wires are not live. If electricity is needed, the simply hang a new wire. They never bother to trace and remove the old wires. It is odd to see so many wires running between buildings.I liked the colors of this raven!!The building in the distance is a Lutheran church. Although there is a strong Catholic heritage in Chile, this church was built because many foreign workers in the port city wanted access to another church too.This seems to be a typical street in Valparaiso. The streets are often narrow one-lane roads, with modern cars, and murals all along the buildings! It is a very eclectic and arty community.I loved these beautiful sunflowers!!For lunch, we were invited to eat at the home of a family in Valparaiso!! This is the spectacular view of the city and harbor from their balcony!! What a beautiful view!!After lunch, our hosts fixed us an alcoholic dessert that tasted wonderful!! The hosts called it an “earthquake” because after drinking a dessert, you could find yourself wobbly on your legs as if you were in an earthquake!!
This is our group photo as we arrived in Rapa Nui!! No one knew each other before the trip, but it was a wonderful group of people that enjoyed discovering new countries and cultures together. Some were experiences travelers, while for others this was their first international tour. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with each person. We created many spectacular memories together!!
We went to the location of the birdman competition on Rapa Nui and first saw this amazing crater. The water in the creator is a little higher than the Pacific Ocean that can be seen in the distance. This photo is a composite of 3 wide-angle photos (handheld) that I then combined to see the whole crater.I liked photo as it emphasizes the section where the crater collapsed and makes the Pacific Ocean visible from the edge of the crater. We walked along the trail for about half of the crater.This photo shows birdman island as seen from the edge of the crater. There is a competition to swim from the crater over to birdman island and search for a bird egg. The distance is large as seen by the size of the boat next to the small rock between the crater and birdman island.This photo shows the width of the crater as seen through the opening in the craters edge.I liked this plant that was growing near the edge of the crater.
We had a wonderful time going to a Polynesian restaurant and show!! The music and dancers were fantastic!! John kept receiving decibel warnings because the music and singing were loud at times! I was especially fun because we had seats right on the first row!!The band was fantastic!! I loved the drums!!
This was a fantastic day to see Moai!! We went to about 4 different sites to see a range of Moai. I liked the personality of this guy.We started our tour today by visiting this Moai site. All the Moai here were knocked down face-first indicating that someone lost a fight and the victors knocked down the other group’s Moai face-first to humiliate the losing group.The support structure (Ahu) for these Moai were not interconnected as we saw by the Incas in Peru. The thought is that these were built by Polynesians and never by the Incas because the structure is so different.Although knocked-down, this guy was clearly seen.This is a top-not that used to be on top of a Moai.Although there has been quite a bit of erosion, this guys face is clearly seen.We next drove to another site and this statue is of a famous king on the island.As we learned about the Moai, it was beautiful to watch the Pacific ocean waves burst on the lava rock!!This next site also showed the three Moai had been knocked down face-first.Although substantial erosion has occurred, you can still clearly see this guys face and arms.Although face-down, it was still amazing to see how large and heavy this huge statues were. All kinds of theories have been proposed for how they were moved from the quarry to the edge of the ocean.I loved to watch the Pacific waves crash on the lava rock!!This guy seemed comfortable with his view of the ocean!I absolutely love these flowers!! They are a bright red-orange and seem to grow everywhere on Easter Island!!I love seeing all the bright colors all over Easter Island!!We moved to another location and you can see this Moai had his neck broken. It is noted that it is face-up, so maybe it fell over from erosion rather than someone pushing it over.We next drove to the quarry site and saw many, many Moai!!The rock in the background is where these Moai were carved to create these statues!!This guys face is very clear despite extensive erosion over the years!!It was amazing to see so many statues in one area!!I liked the personality of this guy!!This guy was impressive to me!!This guy is leaning over so far, it makes me wonder how much longer it will remain upright?I was amazed how many Moai were found near the quarry!!There were statues in every direction!!This is the largest Moai found on Easter Island. It was never finished. It still has a keel along its back since the carving was not totally finished.This Moai was still be carved.This statue is unique because he is kneeling. It is the only Moai found on the island where he is kneeling.I could not comprehend how a people had carved so many statues!!This guy seem somber to me.These Moai almost seemed to be talking to each other!!I was impressed with the craftsmanship!!We moved to another location on the island and saw this statue. For a period of time, this statue was moved to Japan and put on display there!!Changing the angle a bit, you can see 15 Moai lined up along the ocean right behind this same guy!!Within the string of Moai, this guy was the tallest.A crane was used in more recent times to move all these Moai together!!It was a massive undertaking to move these statues that were so heavy!!Within this row of Moai, this is the guy that I liked the most!!Near the Moai was the mountain with storm clouds moving in!!I simply love all the colors of hibiscus!!The colors of flowers is spectacular!!After learning about Moai, we went to the beach!!We close the day on Easter Island with a beautiful sunset seen under the storm clouds!!
We arrived in Easter Island today!! This island is in the middle of nowhere!! It is still part of Chile! We are way out in the South Pacific!! As we exited the airport, we were greeted with these beautiful flowers!! It reminds me of a rustic Hawaii. My friend John thinks it is more like Guam.Everywhere you look, there are beautiful flowers. The bird of paradise has always been one of my favorite flowers!!I was captivated by the gorgeous hibiscus flowers!! I do not remember ever seeing such a vibrant pink hibiscus.This Moai is one of the main reasons people visit Easter Island!! This Moai is the only statue on the island that still has eyes. These guys are massive!! They were carved in another section of Easter Island and then moved to the coast of the island.This Moai is near the Moai with eyes, but this guy has lost some of his features as the statue has degraded over time.Everywhere you walk around this Moai’s eyes follow you!!These Moai are not in as great of shape as the Moai with eyes. The pedestal where the Moai sit are called an Ahu.This view shows how close the Moai sit to the Pacific Ocean!This very large red hibiscus really captured my attention. It is on the road, right next to our hotel!! Absolutely stunning!!
Our tour of Santiago first started at this famous church. The roof is unique compared to many churches.“Palabra de Dios” means the word of God. This is an important statement!I liked the simplicity of these candles!Santiago was named after the apostle Santiago ( apostle James).
This curved building was designed after French architecture.This plaque remembers people held and killed because of their political beliefs opposing Pinochet’s dictatorship.These were terrific strawberries and cherries!!I liked this motorized bicycle!!This building is part of the most famous university in Santiago.This building was designed to mimic New York and was built as a triangle.This is the original Chilean stock exchange. Now, most everything in conducted online.This is the Chilean Presidential Palace!! The car seen by the entrance is a 1966 Ford Galaxie gifted to Chile by the Queen Elizabeth of England. In enjoyed these colorful windmills!!I liked the design of this classic building!These horses were guarding the Presidential Palace!I always enjoy seeing the flags of different countries!This shinny “living statue guy” painted in gold created quite crowd in this park. It was fun to watch him move around.I thought this jacaranda was beautiful with its purple flowers!!We rode a “funicular” to the top of a nearby mountain that had a great view of Santiago!! This is an incredible large city of almost 10 million people!!There are buildings in every direction!!On the top of this hill is this statue honoring the virgin Mary and the immaculate conception. The Pope visited here and blessed the area.This photo shows the high Andes mountains that surround Santiago!!We rode these gondolas back down the mountain!I enjoyed the rich colors of these flowers!!I enjoyed looking at the two-toned colors of these flowers!!Bougainvilleas grow very well in Santiago and I loved this rich purple color!!
I bought this poncho today!! I was not planning to buy anything, but it is so incredibly soft from the baby alpacas that I could not resist the purchase.Within Cusco, we first visited a large Inca ruin site, right in the middle of Cusco!! It was amazing to see the craftmanship of the ruins.We were amazed to see how precisely the stones were cut as the walls were built. The elevation of this was was 11,800 feet above sea level. Walking up and down the steps made me become short of breath very quickly!!It was incredible to see the width of the stones through the door openings!!The stones were huge!!I was impressed with the detail of the rocks as the wall was constructed!How tour guide brought us to this section of the wall to emphasize the enormous weight of the cut rocks!!I have no idea how they cut the stones into such weird shapes and fit everything together!!The Incas designed this waterspout to all water to drain from the upper level!!This statue of Jesus overlooking Cusco mimics the famous statue in Brazil.We kept walking and walking and the wall just seemed to go on and on.The name of this Inca ruin is “Saqsaywaman.” The Peruvians who know English call it “sexy woman.”This is a long-haired llama and he loved seeing us!!These long-haired llamas were fun to see!!This short-haired llama was showing his teeth and wanting something to eat!!I thought this fuzzy alpaca was especially cute!!This guy was quite inquisitive!!This long necked llama was shaggy, but very soft!!This long-haired llama was amazing. The tour guide said he looked like he had dreadlocks. This dog is an actual “hairless” dog. She was quite friendly!!This alpaca was incredibly soft!!They seemed to see fine through their shaggy hair.I thought this guy was very cute!!I was impressed with all the colors of the llamas!!This alpaca was so soft!!This llama was checking everyone out!!This llama had such different colored hair!!He looks shaggy, but his hair is so incredibly soft!!This llama was short-haired!!This was a Peruvian deer that liked to get into mischief and eat the flowers.These women were taking the hair and making different articles.I thought the weaving design was beautiful!The type and color of hat indicates where the ladies are from in Peru.My new poncho is reversible!!We next went to another Inca site within Cusco. I was so impressed with their building precision!! This is looking through a window in a wall and it shows how a series of windows were lined up perfectly!!The doorways had the same trapezoidal design that we saw at Machu Picchu.Over the Inca site, the Spanish built this convent. The straight lines were built by the Incas and the arches were built by the Spanish.This is a view from the convent out over Cusco. In the distance you can see “Viva el Peru”
Today was a very fun day!! We drove to Chinchero and watched a demonstration about how these rural women took raw alpaca, lamb, and vicuna wool, died the wool, and then created hand-made items for sale. These women were incredibly talented!! I came very close to buying this poncho!!This is a menu at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. They are advertising the foods available on the menu. Cuy is guinea pig, ceviche is the raw fish in lime juice and spices, gallina is a Peruvian chicken stew, and anticucho is a popular Peruvian meat dish usually made from beef heart. It was certainly fascinating!!This is a statue of Pachacuti. He was the first historical emperor of the Incas. He is highly regarded by the Peruvian people.We ate lunch today in Chinchero. It is high in the Andes at 12,450 feet above sea level!! The air was so thin that one of our travel mates needed to receive oxygen. They served us a wonderful series of foods. This photo is of a fantastic potato soup with a variety of vegetables and spices.On the table was a basket of things we thought was a decoration assortment of rocks. It turns out that these were corn nuts that were dried and baked to make them nice and crunchy. They were great!!This food was a shock! Next, the woman carried in a plate of cooked guinea pig!! Everyone was shocked!! A few minutes after this photo was taken, she served a series of pieces of guinea pig meat. I did not think I would eat it, but once it was sitting in front of us, most everyone picked it up and tried it. The skin was tough, but the meat tasted like pork. I would probably never order it, but a taste seemed not too bad to try.We enjoyed looking at all the products these women created. From ponchos, to bedspreads, to table clothes, these ladies had made some fantastic products!! My favorite aspect was all the colors!!They provided a demonstration of how they began with raw wool, cleaned it, and started to create thread.It was interesting to watch how quickly their fingers moved to get ready to weave the wool.This massive bedspread was the work of 10 different women each making a panel and then weaving all the panels together. It required several months to create it!!My favorite part of the demonstration was how the dying process worked. The showed different plant parts and insects (in the baskets on top of the table) that were crushed, placed in boiling water and then the wool was placed in the mixture. We were shown different product that created the various colors. My favorites with the blues and purples. It was fascinating to watch!!
Today I checked-off a major bucket list item!! After decades and decades, I was finally able to visit Machu Picchu! It was wonderful to see. We had the son breaking through the clouds when we first arrived, and later it started raining as we walked throughout the ruins.
Machu Picchu is very famous and is know to be one of the seven wonders of the world!! It is also a UNESCO world heritage site. It was built by the Incas and was never discovered by the Spanish when the colonized Peru.
The Andes are very steep mountains. All around Machu Picchu there are these impressive mountains. Machu Picchu is located where the sun rises during the summer and winter solstices. There were impressive buildings all over Machu Picchu. These ruins may be largest in the entire world. The Inca trail is longer than the great wall of China.It is amazing to me that these structures are still standing and in such great shape.It has been great for John and I to have connected and enjoyed such a fabulous trip together after being roommates 49 years ago.It was so beautiful to see the sun break through the clouds and shine directly on Machu Picchu while the other areas were still in shadows.It is jaw-dropping to see how huge the ruins are!!Everyone loves to have their photo taken with the ruins in the background!! This lady was arranging her hand to appear above one of the nearby mountains.I love the Peruvian colors!!These woman were great modeling before the ruins!!I could not get over how closely and carefully the stones were cut!!These walls pointed toward the east. On the other side of the mountains in the distance in the Amazon!The craftsmanship of the cut stones was so impressive!!The Andes are the longest mountain range in the world!! This massive terrace section was overwhelming! I enabled crops to grow on the steep slopes!!All the walls, buildings, and doors just kept going and going!!The doorways were designed to be trapezoids by the Incas because it made them more stable against earthquakes!!This is a famous section of Machu Picchu! This structure was designed for worshiping the “son god.” During the summer and winter solstices, the sun shines directly through two of these windows. It was very impressive engineering to be constructed so long ago by the Incas!!I absolutely loved walking through all the buildings in Machu Picchu!!This appears to be the largest home in Machu Picchu. Since it is the largest, it is probably where the king lived.The beautiful flower is called an Angel Trumpet. The grow all around Machu Picchu.This is the western side of Machu Picchu. I am simply amazed by its size and complexity!!The section shows where the base of Machu Picchu was unstable and a section of the wall has shifted. The Peruvian government has stabilized this section to prevent further damage.These lamas live in Machu Picchu. They largely ignore the visitors and enjoy the beauty and grazing in their home.Lamas and people share and enjoy the same trails throughout the ruins!!It was almost a celebration to walk through Machu Picchu in the drizzling rain. It created a special feeling and reverence.I enjoyed the deep greenery throughout the ruins!!There seemed to be large terraces in every direction!!The construction and design was amazing!!The walls were thick to withstand earthquakes!!This lama peeking his head above the ridge seemed interested watching me walk by.This mountain in the background is actually called Machu Picchu mountain!!
