Part 1 of our #malbeclipse adventure took place in Chile. We described the reasons for this journey when we started planning it almost two years ago in Malbeclipse 2019, and we are very grateful that we were able to follow through on this dream. Most of the photos in this post are by Pam; see James' Malbeclipse 2019 album on Flickr for his photos, some with annotations. To read about the Argentina portion of our explorations, see Malbeclipse Part 2.
Chile was without a doubt the cleanest and most welcoming of any country we've ever been to - this includes the US. It also had the best roads, by far. Even as millions of visitors descended from across the globe we were hard pressed to find any litter, were welcomed everywhere we went, and encountered nary a single pot hole.
Finding our hotel was no small feat, and we were grateful to be tackling Santiago's wondrous and mystifying boulevards on a quiet Sunday morning. We concluded that "involuntarily" was the only way to make a U-turn in this lovely and lively city.
Once we settled into our room, we ventured out to meet up with Paulina, a friend James had met when she visited Bridgewater two years ago, just as we were contemplating this trip. We met at Parque Arauco - an upscale mall with many of the same stores we find at our local malls in the US. One special thing we discovered, though, were these Escher-esque outdoor escalators.
Colorful window displays and public art were also featured throughout the mall.
After a day in Santiago we headed north to the Elqui Valley, which Paulina had recommended for our eclipse viewing. We arranged to stay for two nights before the eclipse and two nights after, because we were taking no chances on missing it!
The beautiful public library in Zapallar was made from re-purposed shipping containers
Just outside the library we discovered this container for recycling of cooking oil
We went to Zapallar in search of penguins. Alas, we found none. We were not, however, disappointed by this lovely walk along the shore, on a well-maintained path.
No penguins, but we were happy to find some pelicans
Beautifully colored boats put us in mind of the Azorean whaleboats that James rows
Even the graffiti was beautiful
There was much energy, artistic and otherwise, evident on the eve of the eclipse. We attended a piano concert, and also witnessed all kinds of spontaneous activity on the town plaza.
Van Gogh - Starry Night
Weed Pants
We love that this information sheet with "Tips for Locals" was translated into English
Also note tip #6: Be respectful and cordial with the tourists
Wondering if such a thing will ever appear in any kind of documentation in the United States
The special glasses allowed us to see only the sun when we were wearing them
We got them from a friend who was flying in the totality shadow on a NASA plane
As the eclipse proceeded, the program at Quebrada de Paihuano included ongoing commentary in Spanish and English with one of the many local professors of solar astronomy. Carly Simon was not featured in the program, but a few minutes before totality, the discussion was interspersed -- without comment -- with (e)clips from this inevitable album.
The emcee and the professor encouraged the crowd to be silent during the 2-1/2 minutes of totality. Of course this did not happen, but the exuberance was quieter than it might otherwise have been.
12:25 pm - total eclipse still over four hours away
4:16 pm - partial eclipse
4:27 pm - partial eclipse
4:33 pm - partial eclipse
4:39 pm - Totality!
4:42 pm - sun begins to appear again
5:01 pm
5:09 pm - sun is going down behind the mountain
We did not try to leave the area the day after the eclipse -- veterans of other eclipses told us this would be a very bad idea. So we explore the Valley a bit more on the following day, and we were delighted to have had the opportunity.
The Elqui Valley is home to Chilean poet, and winner of the Nobel prize in Literature (1945) Gabriela Mistral. Pam had read some of her work when she was a student of Spanish literature in the 1980s, but seeing the homage that her home paid to her almost everywhere we went prompted us to read some of her poetry together. Pam picked up a bilingual edition of Madwomen from the library where she works when we returned.
We also toured the Pisco Mistral Distillery. (Hurrah!) As with almost all tours we took while traveling, we had to insist on a Spanish-language tour. There was always deep concern expressed that the "next English tour was full", and then some sort of disbelief, followed by surprise when we said we wanted to take a tour in Spanish.
A free glass is de rigueur when doing a tour and tasting
This special edition pisco was 43.3% alcohol, instead of the usual 46%, in reference to the time of eclipse totality
The Mistral pisco distillery is very proud of local poet and Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral. They were also very proud of the eclipse, and offered two eclipse cocktails (Sun and Moon), made with the special eclipse pisco mentioned above.
Statue to Gabriela Mistral as a schoolteacher in Paihuano
The people of the Elqui Valley also show pride in their home
through the display of colorful public art
Even this map of tourist attractions in Monte Grande was both useful, and artfully done
"I came from Temuco just to try Pisco"
This one Google map records the important sites for both parts of our adventure -- where we stayed, where we ate, where we toured vineyards (and the like) and where we were when we saw the sun blink out for 2-1/2 minutes.
Also see Pam's StoryMapfeaturing photos of our trip.
To read about the Argentina portion of our explorations, see Malbeclipse Part 2.
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