What a Wonderful World (An #AtoZChallenge Post): C is for Chile

 

The Chilean flag (red rectangle on bottom, white rectangle on top right, with blue square with white star on top left) flies at Fort Bulnes.

My husband recently re-retired, and we are front-loading travel. My #AtoZChallenge posts this year will explore our adventures--some pre-retirement, some post. Today's location: Chile. 

I recognize that an entire country can't be adequately addressed in one blog post, but at least it isn't as egregious as trying to cover a whole continent. (Oh, wait, I did that 2 days ago in A is for Antarctica!) I will continue to use poetic license as I attempt to blog my way through the alphabet, and trust that the reader will understand these posts are not intended to provide in-depth analysis, but simply a short summary of some of my observations in the various places we visited. 

Now, where were we? Our first stop on our tour was Fort Bulnes, which was established to protect Chilean interest in the Strait of Magellan and to help colonize the area. The location proved to be harsh and settlement of the area moved to Punta Arenas instead. In the 1940's, the fort was reconstructed using the same techniques as were used during the construction of the original buildings and Fort Bulnes is now a historic monument. 

The photo above shows a building whose walls are primarily made of peat bricks, with a few wooden logs used as supports. 

And this photo above shows the floor in one of the buildings. The wood planks show the marks that were made as the builders scraped the floors by hand to level and smooth the boards. 

After some time at the fort, we went to the Punta Arenas Cemetery, which has been voted among the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. I'm not sure who puts out the list, but the cemetery is beautiful. It looks like a mini-city, landscaped with many cypress trees. The photo below shows neatly clipped cypress trees lining wide pathways and white marble memorials to the deceased. 

One burial spot is exceptionally large; it appears to be a house and yard that takes up an entire city block. The photo below shows part of its fence and it's copper-domed building in the background.

Our tour guide explained to us the complicated nature of remembrance. One prominent historic leader who is buried in the Punta Arenas Cemetery had been known for decades as the man who was responsible for the progress of the city. Later, it came to light that he had been responsible for a genocide of the indigenous people in the area. Now, the Chileans are grappling with how to talk about their past, knowing that progress came at an inexcusable human cost. 

Our guide also pointed out a building later on, in another part of the city, and he explained that it had been a place of torture during the time that Pinochet was in power (1974-1990). Our guide gave the example of his mother, who entered the university along with 99 other students who were studying to become social workers. Apparently the phrase "social worker" was too similar to "socialist", and his mother's classmates disappeared over time, until she was one of two students in her field to graduate. I can only imagine the level of courage and determination she had to continue her studies, never knowing if she would disappear like her classmates. 

I'm not sure how to segue after that somber story, so just take a deep breath and we'll move on to the Museo Nao Victoria, a museum that was envisioned and designed by a private individual who has painstakingly reconstructed life size models of historical vessels. I learned the difference between Spanish ships and English ships: the Spanish ships are much narrower, but the crow's nests are like little baskets; while the English ships are wider, but with little planks without safety rails on their crow's nests. The tall narrow Spanish ship with its crow's nest baskets is pictured below.

And here is a replica of the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his explorations. Note its more squat appearance, and the flat boards that served as crow's nests. 

A much smaller vessel than either of those two is the replica of the James Caird, one of the rescue boats used by Shackleton after the Endurance was lost in the ice. Seeing just how small the James Caird is, I can't imagine how in the world the crew survived. It is only 22-1/2 feet long. Can you imagine trying to survive in Antarctica in a boat that small? In the photo below, the James Caird is the small boat in the foreground

Although the history and climate of Punta Arenas can be extreme, we enjoyed our visit to Chile and made sure to rub the foot at the base of the Ferdinand Magellan monument, thus ensuring (if tradition is to be believed) of a return visit in the future. You can see from the photo below how shiny the bronze foot is! Lots of people have been assured their safe return to Punta Arenas.

Though I only saw a small portion of the country, I enjoyed our visit and would love to return in the future. Tune in tomorrow to see where in the world we will explore next!