Matarani is the second largest port in Peru and is fairly busy. The entrance into the harbor is quite tight,but this was not an issue for the Mariner and her Master, Captain Felice Patruno. The view from my balcony allowed me to view the entrance into the harbour in comfort.
In Matarani my friends and I were wait-listed for a tour, but, unfortunately we did not end up getting on a tour, this was the first and only time (so far) on a Regent Cruise that I have not been able to go on a tour, so we stayed on board. We did try to get into town but the shuttle bus could only accommodate 25 and there were a large number of people who wanted to do the same as us, also the timing of the runs into and out of town meant that you either had 30 minutes in town or 2½ hours in a very small town with not much to apparently see or do.
Before we gave up and stayed on-board, we tried to arrange a taxi through the local tourism advisor, there is always someone from the local area available to help, but she said no, as it was unsafe. Each time we said we would be ok she got more adamant that we shouldn’t go by taxi, so, after the fourth and most emphatic response that it was not safe, we got the hint, and decided to stay on-board.
There was not much to do so we headed to the observation lounge and watched the unloading of a cargo ship in front of us. We were intrigued by the contents of the bags that were being unloaded, so I went on-line and found out that the bags contained 1,000 kg of dry blasting agent, an explosive. What surprised us was that there did not seem to be any security and the uncoordinated way that the ship was being unloaded and the trucks were being loaded.
I assume that the explosive would be destined for the Interoceanic Highway, which was being built at the time, the highway that is being built between Brazil and Chile. Matarani is one of the three Peruvian Ports that the highway connects to Brazil.
As we did not depart Matarani until 9pm and the weather was good, dinner was a smorgasbord on the pool deck. It was great fun with good food, wine and company.
The smorgasbord included food from many countries, there was too much to try everything, but what I did try was, as usual, very good.
Next stop Coquimbo, Chile.
Re-post from my 2014 Cruise due to corruption that occurred during the migration of my blog.
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