Isla Robinson Crusoe is the most magnificent island we’ve seen since Moorea in the South Pacific. It was an overcast day with scattered showers and the fog hung low over the mountains. This is the top of a mountain range that lies west of Valparaiso and is part of an archipelago that has the distinction of being named a World Biosphere Reserve. There are between 500 and 600 people living in the tiny town of San Juan Bautiste, all of which was visible from our ship that was anchored about a quarter of a mile from shore. Of course, as you’ve probably guessed, this island was used as the basis of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, Robinson Crusoe, and his man Friday.
The four of us tendered over to the island which turned out to be adorable, with a little garden square just off the dock surrounded by teeny weeny shops and restaurants. Everything seemed to be on a smaller scale than we’re used to, I guess because there are so few people. Beautiful flowers were everywhere; there are 146 species of flora and fauna that are endemic to the island. A half dozen or so small caves had been carved out of a cliff above town and we walked up to see what they were all about. Nothing much to see except dramatic views.
There are very few vehicles in San Juan Bautiste (I think we saw 3 all day, one of which was a small Jeep that served as an ambulance) so we could walk in the one and only street through town. Almost everyone we saw was a fellow Prinsendam passenger. We heard later that there was some sort of festival on the other side of the island so most of the inhabitants had gone there for the day. There are no roads across the island so they had to take the family boat. The only other “road” in town was the tsunami evacuation route and it was a dead end street about a half mile long and went straight up the side of the mountain. Ed and I decided to climb it just to say we did and were rewarded with even more spectacular views.
We walked to the other side and came upon an unbelievable house that was made of thousands and thousands of bottles, all laid on their sides and held together with a kind of mortar. The family must make their living by showing the house because we were invited in for a tour and on the kitchen table was a pile of donation money. It was incredible inside and smelled terrible so I went back outside but Ed continued the “tour” to the second floor. He said the windows were made of microwave doors, oven doors and front loading washing machine doors. People will do anything to make a living!!
So that was our day in Isla Robinson Crusoe. On board ship that night, the program included “the marriage game”, which was just like the Newlywed Game show that used to be on TV. Pete and Sharon were chosen as the couple married the longest, 43 years. And, of course, they won first prize!!!
Norovirus update: They’ve reinstated the dance host program and the dancing class and the captain isn’t warning us every day to wash our hands to the tune of Happy Birthday, so we must be making progress, but we won’t really be out of the woods until we can pour our own cup of coffee!!
Tomorrow we have our first Virtuoso tour so that should be a nice day. We’ll be in Puerto Montt, Chile.
The four of us tendered over to the island which turned out to be adorable, with a little garden square just off the dock surrounded by teeny weeny shops and restaurants. Everything seemed to be on a smaller scale than we’re used to, I guess because there are so few people. Beautiful flowers were everywhere; there are 146 species of flora and fauna that are endemic to the island. A half dozen or so small caves had been carved out of a cliff above town and we walked up to see what they were all about. Nothing much to see except dramatic views.
There are very few vehicles in San Juan Bautiste (I think we saw 3 all day, one of which was a small Jeep that served as an ambulance) so we could walk in the one and only street through town. Almost everyone we saw was a fellow Prinsendam passenger. We heard later that there was some sort of festival on the other side of the island so most of the inhabitants had gone there for the day. There are no roads across the island so they had to take the family boat. The only other “road” in town was the tsunami evacuation route and it was a dead end street about a half mile long and went straight up the side of the mountain. Ed and I decided to climb it just to say we did and were rewarded with even more spectacular views.
We walked to the other side and came upon an unbelievable house that was made of thousands and thousands of bottles, all laid on their sides and held together with a kind of mortar. The family must make their living by showing the house because we were invited in for a tour and on the kitchen table was a pile of donation money. It was incredible inside and smelled terrible so I went back outside but Ed continued the “tour” to the second floor. He said the windows were made of microwave doors, oven doors and front loading washing machine doors. People will do anything to make a living!!
So that was our day in Isla Robinson Crusoe. On board ship that night, the program included “the marriage game”, which was just like the Newlywed Game show that used to be on TV. Pete and Sharon were chosen as the couple married the longest, 43 years. And, of course, they won first prize!!!
Norovirus update: They’ve reinstated the dance host program and the dancing class and the captain isn’t warning us every day to wash our hands to the tune of Happy Birthday, so we must be making progress, but we won’t really be out of the woods until we can pour our own cup of coffee!!
Tomorrow we have our first Virtuoso tour so that should be a nice day. We’ll be in Puerto Montt, Chile.
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