Puenta Montt: 41.5° S Lat.: Sunny 18°

November 8, A National Day of Protest 

We are safely into Puerto Montt after departing Chiloe Island midday.

After fueling our car we dropped it at the airport and took a bus into town. Mission accomplished, car and ourselves in one piece. Some of the driving here is a bit aggressive, but no real problems. Ok, so we entered a couple of one way streets...very briefly. They aren’t always very well marked and the locals toot their horns at you a lot when this happens so things get straightened out pretty quickly. 

We arrived in town as the bus depot which is on the waterfront, and walked to our nice hotel. It’s in that complex up pretty high.

After all we have 4 nights in a bunk bed coming up on the cargo ferry so we decided to treat ourselves a little. We’d planned to go out for a nice meal as well, but as we wandered town we saw loads of evidence of the very recent protests here.

All the banks, government buildings and international franchise businesses were closed, and boarded up. 

This is in the central city core.

Turns out everything was getting actively shut down with metal and wood screens being cut and screwed into place.

We figured it being Friday that things might get a bit heated up tonight.

Turns out people were already gathering in the central plaza. Lots of young people.

We soon realize that going out to a restaurant tonight wasn’t going to happen. So we did what anyone in a central downtown does. We looked for a mall and actually found a big one right under our hotel. In the food court all the usual suspects were present, but neither of us wanted to eat at KC, Pizza Hut or the wide range of fast food outlets. Sadly healthy fast food alternatives have been slow in arriving in Chile. There’s loads of places to get a hot dog, but knowing what they put in the dogs that option wasn’t too appealing either.

However, right at the end of our search we found a small mall restaurant with a decent, inexpensive menu. The owner told us he was closing in one hour because of the expected protests. Perfect! And they had our favourite beer too!

The food was simple, but good. Problem solved. As we walked the short distance back to our hotel we heard drums and chants. We knew what that meant. A parade! Actually a very sizeable protest march was coming our way. Feeling a decent vib we decided to stay and watch. 

I found the protest interesting and at the same time quite an emotional experience. Here were all these people actively protesting their and others situation. Telling their government that enough is enough and they weren’t going to take the status quo any longer. Powerful stuff.

Not just young people either.

The standard way to make noise during a Chilean protest is to bang a wooden spoon on a pot, or pan. We saw lots of this happening.

There were well over a thousand participants from this the 16th biggest city in Chile. Perhaps 2,000 in the march. They sang songs and jumped up and down in unison. Very powerful.

We decided to head back to our room to see what we could see on tv. Turns out it’s happening all over the country as I write this. There are so many people outside in the various cities making their voices heard. Santiago as usual has a violent outcome and a major historical building at the university just over from Plaza Italian has been torched. The firemen working hard to arrive and save what they can.

 
There is a certain euphoria in the air. A feeling of change that won’t be denied. I don’t think I’d like to be the politicians that have to sort out this whole thing. These people don’t look like they’re going home any time soon.  I’m no fan of the wonton violence and destruction that seems to be precipitated by the few. From what we’ve seen on tv, the Chilean media and authorities seem to be focusing on catching these types.

Anyway, this is what’s happening here this evening. We head south tomorrow afternoon and the weather is looking pretty good with sun and cloud and the high winds from today subsiding. Hopefully we will get some great viewing as we proceed. We won’t have any internet until next Tuesday and I’ll likely post on journal entry when we arrive. 

On a more positive note, last nights sunset.