Tuesday 6th February

Coquimbo, an important port with one of the best harbours on the coast, is the gateway to the nearby city of La Serena.

We decided to stay in Coquimbo and to wander around this very busy port. We could see all these houses/shacks perched on the hill from the ship. It didn’t look particularly inviting as we disembarked.

However there was plenty of police presence to reassure us.  Any worries we might have had were soon put to rest.  Everyone seemed very pleasant and cheerful and waved from their cars as we walked along the pavement.

When we alighted from the ship we took a right turn towards the old fort whilst most of the other passengers turned left and went in to town. After 1/2 an hour of not seeing anyone else from the ship Jane was a little concerned that we might have made an error of judgement by coming this way.

Most of the houses had seen better days, although the had good views of the Aurora!

… and could do with a little refurbishment!

We were glad that we had made the effort when we finally made it to the fort, and we did eventually see some fellow passengers.

The wildlife here was great to watch………

And as there weren’t that many people around the pelicans were content to just sit around and sun bathe.

This particular rock is affectionately know by the locals as “bird shit island” I’m sure they have a reason but can’t for the life of me think why!

This ship had also seen better days but the birds seemed to like it!

On our way back from the fort we decided to head on in to town.   As luck would have it we got the opportunity to walk through another fish market and cod knows you can’t get enough of those, although Jane said she has haddock nuff of them and thought this plaice would be different.  (I always like to crab a chance to talk pollocks, sole destroying isn’t it?)

After walking around the shops Jane decided that she would like a fine dining experience so she chose KFC and we were both very disappointed!

Walking back to the ship we bumped in to my mate Nigel Marvin and he told me that he had just seen an Inca Tern and that we should follow him and we might be lucky enough to see one as well. When we got back to the sea front he was delighted to see more of these lovely birds. Nigel says that they are in his top ten favourite birds in the world, quite an accolade!

So now that I am a fully trained naturist (i think thats the word) here are a few shots of the wildlife.

I’m not sure of the name of these birds with the large bill but they do make an unusual noise when they cross the road!

These are those Inca terns again and I was trying to get the Chilean flag fluttering in the breeze to give the photo some gravitas, better luck next time!

It’s not quite the same!

Inca tern in action!

This is a South American egret

The seals certainly know where there’s a free lunch!!!

They just love to put on a show!