COQUIMBO, CHILE

Our port for today is Coquimbo Chile.  A city of about 200,000 which has experienced 474 earthquakes over the last year with the largest occurring on September 16, 2015 and registering 8.3 on the rickter scale. Due to port devastation suffered by the last earthquake, we found it necessary to tender into a makeshift port. 

First, I picked up our tender tickets at 7:45am so we were ready to leave the ship as soon as our group number was called.  While we were waiting we met up with some new Cruise Critic friends from Sequim, Washington named Jon and Joy Jackson.  We joined forces with them, deciding to take a local bus and head north to the town of La Serena.  Our tender number was finally called at 8:30am.
 
As our ship came closer and closer to the port, ones eyes are immediately drawn to the standout landmark in Coquimbo, the Cruz del Tercer Milenio which is Spanish for "Third Millennium Cross”.  This is a concrete cross located at the top of El Vigía hill and stands 272 feet tall and 131 feet wide. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2001. It sits 646 feet above sea level and is the tallest monument in South America, more than doubling the size of the famous Christ the Redeemer in Brazil.

Cruz del Tercer Milenio statue atop El Vigia hill

Once our tender arrived dockside our next task was to find the local bus stop.  After talking with one of the local taxi drivers we discovered we were only 2-3 blocks from the bus stop.  The cost for the bus to La Serena was $1 USD per person and the trip took us about 30 minutes. 

Landmark we used to find and remember of bus stop

The city of La Serena was founded in 1544 and is Chile’s second oldest city next to Santiago.  We spent the entire day leisurely strolling through a womans craft fair, visiting churches and checking out a museum.  I enjoyed the bright colors of the hanging flower baskets and the elaborate brickwork on the downtown streets.  

Local architecture

Beautiful church doors dating back to the 1500's

Creative paper items for sale at the women's craft fair

In the city park

Local architecture

Loved these grand ole doors

Hanging flower baskets and brick streets of the downtown area

One of our stops was at the La Serena ArcheologicalMuseum.  We entered for free and were pleasantly surprised to come across an Easter Island statue up close and personal.  This is a very small museum with no English translations but it was still interesting to wander through, especially at the price.  

On display at the museum

Sharon and Marci in front of the Easter Island Statue

After leaving, we stopped for lunch at an outside café called Café Colonial.  I split a sandwich with my stateroom friend Marci.  We settled on a turkey, cheese, avocado and letter sandwich on a homemade bun.  We also ordered a stuffed avocado with chicken filling along with a cerveza to drink.  When our dishes arrived we had to gasp at the size of their homemade buns.  They were twice the size of what we are used to and our sandwich totally filled our plate.  Certainly half a sandwich was going to be more than sufficient for one person.    Our total bill came to $12.50 each.  The food was nothing short of excellent. 

Lunch break at sidewalk cafe with Jon and Joy Jackson

After a relaxing lunch and great conversation, we continued our stroll through this unique city with it’s sidewalk musicians and eclectic mix of people.  At one point we spotted the Chilean version of the Dollar Store so had to rummage through that. 

Chilean version of the Dollar Store

Lastly, a short stop for a double scoop gelato and then it was back to the bus stop for our return  trip.  It was nice not having a scheduled shore excursion today and the weather was perfect for our relaxing day on our own.