Sunday, January 22. Robinson Crusoe Island

Beautiful summer day.

Well, if you want off the beaten track, this is certainly the place. Apparently they have maybe three cruise ships a year come here. I am glad we came here, but only to see the place that some cast-away spent four or five years here in isolation, some three hundred years ago.

In reality, other that that fame, there is nothing here except overpriced spiny lobster. Oh yes, some caves that the Spanish kept prisoners in.

We four walked for about three hours looking at anything and everything trying to find something of interest, or to me, some good photos. Sorry, not much today, sadly.

It was good from the point of view of seeing some untouched island left to its own devices, except after tsunamis at which time the Chilean government seems to dig deep and fix the damage and await the next tsunami. I suppose any government would do the same thing to keep an island group within their control, even if it is some 420 miles out to sea.

Please excuse my cynicism today, I don't know why I have that attitude. The locals all seemed to be hiding today and the only communication we had was with the restaurant staff. It is a Sunday, but unless they were all in a hidden church for a six hour service, they must have stayed in their houses. No kids outside playing either.

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As an aside, the internet is a bit spotty on the ship and I only expect it to get worse as we go south. There may be some days when I do not get through to Craig, so he has nothing to post. 

The main drag, all under construction after the 2010 tsunami that wiped the town out.

In the cemetery is the memorial to the German Naval ship Bremen, that ran ashore here in 1915. 

Fellette in a very large cave, built to hold prisoners of the Spanish some time around early 1800s [???] It was surprisingly comfortable in there. 

The best photo of the day. $23 US for 1/2. Fleece-the-tourist-day here.

Gun turrets from the Bremen I can only imagine.

And there you have a grand view of San Juan Bautista, Isla Robinson Crusoe. The 800 residents are far richer than they were at 9.00 am this morning.



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