I don’t know why we dock at San Antonio rather than Valparaiso. Both are ports for Santiago. Valpo is a far more interesting place. It probably has something to do with money. (Someone asked the captain that in his Q&A and he dodged the question.) Danial, our Cruise Director said that there was little of interest in San Antonio save the mall and dedicated his port lecture to Valparaiso and Santiago and suggesting we go there. Lonely Planet says there is one interesting thing to do in San Antonio, and that is the pedestrian pier near the fish market where the water is thick with sea lions feasting on the fish cleaning remains. Otherwise, they too suggest we get out of town. Even the online “Whatsinport.com” says “San Antonio has little to offer tourists”

I am not much interested in shopping malls. Since we had an unscheduled afternoon in San Antonio we followed Lonely Planet’s advice and walked the mile to the fish market. The temperature was in the low 70s so the walk was pleasant and we had so much fun!

One of the things that Danial told us to look for in Valpo, if we chose to go there, was the street art/graffiti but San Antonio also greeted us with an eyeful. But that was not the main attraction.

This is the first weekend of Carnival and the walk from the port to the pier was lined with booths and packed with street life. According to one of the folks at the tourist info tent Sunday is always busy along the waterfront but this Sunday there were lots of people from Santiago down for Carnival.

While we missed the parade, the walk was packed with street singers, jugglers, artists, bubble blowers, a puppet show and the self-proclaimed “El Ray del Perro Caliente.” (The hot dog king.)

The sea lions at the pier by the fish market (which was wrapping up for the day) did not disappoint and the kids were having a ball.

The street was one big outdoor dollar store. There are around 950 Chilean pesos to the dollar and many of the stalls offered everything on the table for 1,000 pesos. Vendors cried out “Un Dólar.” You could get jeans, bracelets, key chains and even clams for 1,000 pesos, “Un Dólar.”

And with a lot of extra people in town for Carnival the small boat fishing fleet was out trying to get their points across to the urbanites from the capital. They had posters with pictures criticizing Senators who did not support artisanal fisherman and banners decrying trawlers as “the predators of the Sea” who had no respect for the “Natural Artisanal Fishermen.” With the help of Google Translate I felt right at home and happy for the chance to enjoy a delightful Sunday afternoon in San Antonio.

We watched the sun go down from our balcony as we prepared for our scheduled day in San Antonio.