Day 45
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Valparaiso, Chile
We drove for 90 minutes from the port of Valparaiso to the hidden gem - Quintessence alpaca farm.
Here you can see hundreds of different colored alpacas. They told us there are 22 colors of Alpacas.
We had a unique experience of actually holding the baby alpacas, feeding them, petting them and being able to take pictures of them. We got to see the whole farm: where they breed them, where they get shorn, how they process their fiber, every step of the way until the beautiful, soft product ends up on the shelves in their boutique.
The alpacas are super adorable. They are very mild mannered, curious, skittish snd very gentle.
On the way to the farm we drove through the mountainous terrain that at times looked like a dry desert, then we passed by lush and green avocado groves and vineyards. The landscape is very diverse here. It’s fascinating.
On the way back to the ship we stopped to see a genuine Moai statue! The one (of two) that was gifted to people of Valparaiso. The other one is in a museum in Great Britain.
The impressive 500 year old statue is standing by the front entrance to the Fonck Museum of Archaeology and history. It is made out of volcanic stone.
The are over 2000 volcanos in Chile and mild earthquakes are a daily occurrence.
Both ways we had a nice, long scenic drive through the the city and have seen colorful houses cascading down hillsides, unique architecture, beautiful, wild and protected dunes, funiculars transporting people up to the city's many hillsides and many murals.
There is so much history in this area. We wished we had few more days to see all the area has to offer.
Tomorrow we will wake up in the next port - La Serena.
Fun fact: At a count just over 1300, Chile is one of the countries with the most volcanoes l, and few of them are still active!
