South America: Superlative contrasts
One needs to spend at least two full days to travel from the Philippines to arrive alive in Santiago, Chile. Our 20-day cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Miami, Florida sailed through the western part of South America — the Pacific Ocean seaside towns of Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, across the equator, through the Panama Canal to the Carribean Sea, Colombia, Jamaica, and finally, on the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. (4,969 nautical miles in total.)
These South American countries are rich with oil, mines of silver and gold, gems like lapis lazuli, opal, turquoise. Fertile fields produce abundant agricultural products. In the 16th century, Spain made them its colonies. Pirates, buccaneers, and privateers, like Sir Francis Drake, were also regular “visitors.”
On the map, Chile, a long and narrow country, has 4,300 kilometers of coastline and has different kinds of weather and topography. Because it faces the Pacific Ocean, Chile exports fish to the world. Coquimbo, La Serena, and Arica are towns often visited by earthquakes, the last one in 2015, from which some areas still have to recover. The landscape is mostly brown and very dry, so dry that Chinchorro mummies discovered here, are from 4,000-2,000 B.C., the oldest in the world. This shows that civilizations existed in Chile even before the Incas — which the Spaniards subdued — lived there.
The hot, dry climate and the fertile valleys of Arica are suitable for olive trees, which the Spaniards brought along with religion and culture.
Peru, which also faces the Pacific Ocean, is the 3rd largest South American country after Brazil and Argentina. Of the world’s 104 microclimates, Peru has 84. Its highlands, coasts, and jungles make up its biodiversity. Asparagus, artichokes, paprika, mangoes grow well here.
Trujillo, Peru stretches along bone-dry valleys. Through privately-funded excavations which began in 1987, archeologists found approximately 2,000 sites of pre-Incan people — Moche and Chimú — who settled here and erected numerous temples called Huacas. The Chimú nation established its capital, Chan Chan in 1300 A.D. Almost 18 square kilometers in size, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, considered the most massive pre-Columbian city in the Americas. It is the biggest of the world’s mud cities, where 60,000-100,000 people once lived. The Chimú had such a large collection of gold and silver. The Incas, who lusted over these riches, defeated the Chimú after battles that lasted for nine years.
An interesting tidbit that our guide told us: the ubiquitous coca plant plays a significant role in Peruvian history. At an appointed time, the high priest/medicine man (shaman) takes these leaves, mixes them with the gelatinous sap of the San Pedro cactus, and he “flies.” After his “trip,” the Shaman counsels his people and cures their ailments. Even today, the highlands people still prefer to go to the high priest for their ailments than a medical doctor.
Ecuador is literally on the equator and its currency is the US dollar. Agricultural products — cacao (Ecuadorians say that the best chocolates contain, at least, five percent of Ecuadorian chocolate), flowers, teak wood, bananas, pineapple, corn, sugarcane, Robusta coffee — are exported all over the world. The people eat rice three times a day and fish — sea bass, swordfish — are abundant.
Manta, another port city, is the tuna capital of Ecuador. Using the dried leaves of the toquilla plant, the world-famous Panama hats are actually woven in nearby Montecristi. These hats were used during the construction of the Panama Canal. President Theodore Roosevelt used one while visiting the project and set a fashion trend.
(To be continued)
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