Last Updated on March 3, 2021
We arrived in Valdivia, a small city in Chile’s Lake District, and fell for it instantly. We had heard that Valdivia was the ‘hippest town in Southern Chile’, and after living in a chic part of Chile’s capital, Santiago, for seven weeks, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Before moving on to Patagonia’s popular tourist meccas, we wanted to soak up a bit of an authentic Chilean city and see what the fuss about the Feria Fluvial, the city’s fish market, was all about. Valdivia is known for this small fish market right on the riverbank, and it’s no wonder why. Fishmongers display dozens of different fish and sea animals for sale on one side, while the other is packed with fresh, colorful fruit and veg stands, cheese vendors and even people selling giant bunches of seaweed.
Of course, the most entertaining aspect is the gang of sea lions hanging out in the river just behind the fish market, gobbling up all the extra fish parts the fishmongers sweep right into the water periodically throughout the day. These massive beasts lay on a wooden raft tethered about five meters from the shore, and either lay on it, play on it, swim around it, or eat fish all day long – not a bad life at all. One of the largest of the sea lions got cheeky and jumped out of the water up three meters onto the cement platform and gave onlookers a good scare at first. After the initial shock at his massive size, it seemed like all the market visitors got out their iPhones, cameras, even iPads, and snapped shots of the sea lion as he flopped his way through the fish stalls. The fish mongers didn’t seem threatened at all by his big bloody fangs, and eventually managed to lure him back into the water by dumping a bucket of fish parts into the water for him to enjoy.
Evan
Sunday 24th of February 2013
What a great shot! That was a huge one. I'm gonna be scared too if a big one pop out in front of me, but they are adorable.
Dani
Monday 25th of February 2013
Thanks, Evan! It's incredible how big they are - it was hilarious to see how people were kinda panicking at first, but 30 seconds later everyone had their smartphone / camera out ;-)
Jessica
Tuesday 19th of February 2013
oh what a great shot - sea lion vs tourists :p
Dani
Wednesday 20th of February 2013
Thanks, Jessica :) I guess we were at the right place at the right time!
Michael
Sunday 17th of February 2013
That thing is huge! very cool shot, I've never seen a sea lion this close to humans.
Dani
Wednesday 20th of February 2013
It's huge, right? We were surprised that it just came up there and didn't seem bothered at all by all these people. But the fish mongers seemed to know the sea lions pretty well :)
Yeity
Friday 15th of February 2013
Wow, that's a lot of blubber hanging off that dock. That whole thing alone could power Thailand's lantern festival.
Dani
Wednesday 20th of February 2013
Haha, you're probably right ;-)
Shalu Sharma
Friday 15th of February 2013
Quite amazing how these animals are hanging out in the river. I wonder if they have attacked tourists before and wonder why they jump out like that?
Dani
Friday 15th of February 2013
I think he just felt like he hadn't gotten enough fish yet ;-) According to the fishmongers, the sea lions are harmless and don't attack anyone (just fish) - they weren't scared at all to go right up to him and tried to push him back into the water :D