On A Boat Around Valdivia And Then Into Jardin Botanico de la Universidad Austral de Chile

Hi again, this is my second part to my journey down to Valdivia, Chile. We got on a boat to tour around five rivers that converge on the little city in a boat like the one below.

This is the infamous the $30 million bridge that was supposed to go over the rio Cau Cau and connect Valdivia with the island of Teja but they workers built the structures backwards or upside down; I have read both accounts in various articles.

A couple of lovers on the boat ride.

 Some of the pretty willow trees that line the rivers.

 A large hotel in Valdivia seen from our boat.

 Valdivian waterfront.

Some cool street art back along the waterfront in Valdivia.

 Fishing is a main staple for jobs in this area what with five rivers converging into the city which sits on the Pacific Ocean.

  The entrance to the Universidad Austral de Chile, which houses a very nice
botanical garden which we went to visit. This is a link to a nice article that explains what approach the University is taking in implementing their garden.

https://stmarys.quickschools.com/?ausername=ltobar@stmaryscatholicschool.net

Their main objects of the Valdivia Botanic Garden are:

To show the region's indigenous plants, especially those with conservation problems;

To make people realize this it is not enough to conserve species without also conserving the environments in which they grow:

To show the range of growth forms of plants;

to demonstrate the adaptions of plants to their surroundings;

to show the main ways in which flowering plants have evolved;


 With the lush wet climate in Valdivia the plant life is abundant.

 Park rules.

 My wife hanging out in front of a large tree.

 Even the dirt grows moss here not just on the north side but all sides.

 Lidice along the riverfront.

 These are cormorants that are hanging out over the river in some willow trees.

From Smoke, Smog and Heat of Santiago to the Fresh, Clean, Wet of the Valdivian Jungle

Hi Folks,
this past summer in Santiago has been a rough one. Chile has suffered a really harsh heat wave and a spell of fires all through the center of the country and the air quality of the city has been an absolute shame.

This image was taken through a plastic safety net on the balcony of my in-laws 11th floor apartment. This was actually a clear day compared to what we had been suffering through for a couple weeks and you could not see the giant Andean mountains in the background at all. Visibility was the worst I have ever seen in my life and this includes my time living through the smog alerts in Los Angeles in the early seventies.

Luckily, the fires abated and the air cleared back to their usual summer time blue before my wife and I headed out of the hot city way down south to the ancient city of Valdivia which has a rich history of warfare with the native Mapuche people and was founded in 1544 by Pedro de Valdivia and under Spanish control until 1810.

Picture of Pedro de Valdivia, conquistador of Chile and founder of Valdivia

"After the demoralising Battle of Curalaba in 1598, in which an entire Spanish army was defeated and the Mapuches killed the governor, the Mapuches and Huilliches made a mass rebellion. The Indians proceeded to destroy all the Spanish settlements and forts in their lands, in what came to be known as the Destruction of the Seven Cities. On 24 November 1599 Huilliches destroyed and plundered Valdivia. The border of the Spanish Empire shifted north of the Bío-Bío River, while the later refounded city of Valdivia remained a Spanish enclave surrounded by native Huilliche territory, and along with the island of Chiloé, continued to be the southernmost colonies of the Empire."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Valdivia

   This city has many great places to visit and do in and around it. From the boats that haul visitors to the old Spanish forts that line the rivers that come into the city to the beautiful national parks that lie near the city to the pacific ocean that the city sits next to. I highly recommend a visit to this area if you are ever in Chile. 

  Elephant seals line the waterway behind the fish market and along with the local homeless cat and dogs live a life of riches.

  This big boy broke found a way through the fence and right up to the fish cutting stalls.

 The road leading from the waterfront to the main town square.

 The Germans settled this area and brought with them beer making and chocolate as well.

 The hotel view of the rive that my wife and I stayed in with the rain coming down.

 My wife Lidice trying to stay dry as we wait for the boat to pick us up at the hotel dock.

 This is the Virgin in a small very dark church on one of the islands that we stopped at on our boat trip.

                                 Next blog will be more nature with tours of the National Parks in

                                 the area. Until then, enjoy!    

Going Way, Way Back.

Hello Folks,
here is a scene that I made for my feature film, "Crackerville" that I shot in 1989-92 in the old Lexington Club in the San Francisco Mission. I had never finished editing this and had cut it from the movie. There is a couple notable people in this short scene. The bar tender is Eileen Weisinger, who after this was shot went off to Hollywood and became a professional stunt woman of some repute and can be seen in many films and tv shows including Charlie Angels and Iron Man. Also, the tough guy with a cigar is Eben Schletter who is a Los Angeles based musician and won an Emmy for the Sponge Pants Bob theme music. I am the guy with the long hair. Go figure? The Brave Brave Sir Laurent Calvin who is respected Bay Area chiropractor is in the red shirt getting beat up and the curly hair, "Maria" is my old squeeze France Lansac and she is French.

I do not know where the original footage is(or I would have obviously cut it together) and only have the encoded window dub version with the number at the bottom which is normally used for editing purposes in the olden days.

Enjoy!

Biking Santiago de Chile

I used my new helmet cam to capture my commute back home from work. Ignore the incorrect date in the top left corner as I cannot figure how to turn it off while shooting. New camera and all.

I double the speed of the video so it looks like I am racing, I hope you folks like my bike ride.