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!