Of bike ride cartography;

I've made a google map with the routes of my rides and pictures. Check it out. Click the see more button below.

Of the lands around Valdivia;

From Bike Rides 2

Over the last two months that I've been here I've done a good bit of bike riding. One of the best things about riding around here is that you can go about 15 before hitting hill if you plan the ride out well. I guess that is a perk of living in a fluvial plain city.

This ride I did the other week. I went Southeast of the city following along a river inlet. After I mapped it out I figure out I had gone 50km. I followed the road to Corral and La Union. I only did a section of it because it was starting to get darker. Before I turned around to head back home I did a few more miles in the hills. I eventually hit Rio Fluta; one of the many rivers with makes up Rio Valdivia as it empties out into the ocean.

From Bike Rides 2

Lots of marshy estuary land. It makes for easy biking.  From Bike Rides 2

Rio Fluta

I love all the things I see when I get outside of town.  From Bike Rides 2

And nothing beats a cold beer from the cerveceria after a big ride. I found this place, the Cerveceria Calle-Calle, just outside of town  From Bike Rides 2

On another ride I went to the northeast following the souther side of the Rio Calle-Calle. I came across an old abandoned rail yard filled with graffiti.

From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

No matter how far I ride outside of town there will always be a bus not far behind.  From Bike Rides 2

I did another ride heading up north and did about 20 miles. I followed the Rio Cruces and eventually came across a cool marshy river area which made the perfect turning around point.

Before big ride I like to buy my favorite empanadas to take with me.  From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

You can see the boat graveyard to the left and the casino in the distance to the right of the road.



One last bike ride for this post. I sent south of the city to where the logging industry is. For most of the ride I had trucks loaded up with logs going past me and then trucks with split wood going the other way.

This dog may be a wolf. He was chewing on a huge chunk of bloody meat. From Bike Rides 2

From Bike Rides 2

Of Isla Mancera;

A little mate on the boat ride.    From Chile W8 Mancera

The other week in my history class we had a fiel trip to Isla Mancera. From Niebla it is a quick boat ride to get to this small island at the mouth of the Rio Valdivia.

The island view from Niebla.    From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

There are two of three small passenger ferries which make their way between Niebla, Isla Mancera, and Corral several times a day. I would love to have the job of running that route. The bay is fulled with lots of little coves, points, and some islands here and there.

From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

It is a small little island. It probably takes less than 15min if you were to walk around it. We were told that during the winter about 300 people live on the island and during the summer it could get up to nearly 3000 vacationers. There isn't that much on the island. There is a church a very small store store selling just the bare necessities. All of the houses are very small and everything is rusting.

From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

My history class took the quick walk around the island to see a little bit of how people live in the island. Then we made out way to the old Spanish forts. The history professor had given us the history of the forts of Valdivia and Isla Mancera in class the week before. This field trip was to see the Castillo Mancera first hand.

My history professor at the entrance to the fort.  From Chile W8 Mancera

My class and the 18th centure ruins of a Spanish church.    From Chile W8 Mancera

This system of forts was build around the enterance to Valdivia in the Mid 1600s after Valdivia was attacked and occupied by the Dutch. It was the Marquis of Mancera, the viceroy of Peru who proposed the fortification of the harbor. The fort system of Valdivia was one of the largest and best fortified in the new world. It was the first line of protection protecting the silver industry of Peru from European attacks.

Someone else was trying to get a picture from a hole in the wall.  From Chile W8 Mancera

The wall around one side of the fort. The other side is protected by a steep bluff above some big rocks. From Chile W8 Mancera

The stone forts which can be seen today were constructed in in the mid 1700s and have been renovated after a century of neglect and the 1960 earthquake.

There are still a few arches left in the old church.  From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

From Chile W8 Mancera

A cannon looking out protecting the bay and other forts from English attacks.  From Chile W8 Mancera

What still remains of this fort is a church, walls, holding cell, and the governors house. They are all crumbling stone brick buildings on a bluff overlooking the bay and out towards the ocean.

From Chile W8 Mancera

Of Chilean protests;

From Chile W8 Protest

This isn't how the river usually looks in Valdivia. All of these fishing boats are in town for some protesting. It has been a big week for protesting in Chile. Most of it has been happening in Santiago, but Valdivia has had a number of big marches. It started on monday with the government voting to allow a hydroelectric project in Patagonia. The majority of Chileans don't want to see this pristine wilderness ruined by foreign owned dams. Chileans make their feelings well known to the government.

From Chile W8 Protest

I had no idea how violent Chilean protesters until I saw the aftermath of what I would call a riot. When I crossed the bridge tuesday to go to salsa class there was a huge group of people going the opposite direction. Then I noticed that it was very smoky and that my eyes were starting to burn. Eventually I got to the university entrance where the streets were filled with fist sized rocks. The tear gas was pretty strong there too so I hurried through with my bike. Then I saw all the broken glass on the streets. Turns out it was from the students smashing out car windows. Luckly my bike tire made it through without any new leaks. The windows of the bank at the intersection were smashed or had rock sized holes punched through them. Eventually I ran into people I knew and they told me that the police had just come to break up the protest with tear gas and water cannons.

From Chile W8 Protest

From Chile W8 Protest

A few days later there was another protest going on. This one wasn't only about the hydro project. There were fishermen, Mapuche, education, and student protests all mixed together. I got stuck behind them on the bridge after my class go out, but they were still all calm and not in the rock throwing mood yet. Some protesters lit some tire an gasoline fires below the bridge. There were big black columns of smoke coming over the bridge. Then they also had orange smoke bombs pouring out more smoke. Sadly I didn't have my camera on me then. I watched them for awhile until the wind changed directions and blew the smoke my way.

The police working to cleanup the street after a fire.  From Chile W8 Protest

Later that day I went to cross the bridge, but since the protest had turned violent I couldn't. The protesters and police were battling on the bridge. Armored trucks and tear gas vs lots of rocks. I watched with the large group of bystanders and people waiting to cross the bridge.

The protesters were setting tire fires all over the streets and ripping bricks out of the waterfront costanera to throw at the police. The police responded with their trucks called guanacos which spray dirt water on protesters. Eventually after they launched enough teargas canisters the students gave up. The students all ran off and the bridge opened again for traffic.

A guanaco with a number of dents in its side from rocks.  From Chile W8 Protest

The onlookers.  From Chile W8 Protest

From Chile W8 Protest

During all of this I was in a safe spot. The only problem was when the police screwed up and launched tear gas the wrong direction into the group of onlookers. I now know that horsed don't like tear gas. They were all sneezing and moving around restlessly (chomping at the bit?)

From Chile W8 Protest

It was interesting seeing how Chileans protest. This wasn't just a one time sort of thing in Chile. They protest like this often. The police are prepared for them. I always wondered why they had the big riot van with protected windows. Now I know. They are used to this sort of stuff. They act quickly and harshly when there is a protest.

From Chile W8 Protest

The Valdivia protests were estimate to be about 2000 people. In Santiago the were 30,000 people strong. There will be more protests over the hydro project in the coming weeks. I hear that the 21 of May is always a big protest day in Chile. I'll be sure to stay out of the crowds and upwind of the the tear gas.

From Chile W8 Protest