After years ducking the issue, Valparaiso Foundation President Todd Temkin lets escape a nervous laugh when friends and admirerers call him "the world's most expensive tour guide." The fact is, Mr. Temkin, a Milwaukee-borne poet who became regionally famous as founder and President of Fundaciòn Valparaìso, one of the city's most prestigious cultural institutions, never wanted to be a tour-guide at all.

 "This whole thing started as a favor and gradually spiraled out of control," Temkin says.

"Some years ago, I began receiving calls from foreign ambassadors and the directors of multinational coorporations with offices in Santiago. They would say things like, 'Todd, the CEO of our company or the Education Minister of our country will be in Chile for a few days and we'd like you to give them a tour of Valparaiso. We'll be happy to make a small donation in exchange for the favor.' "

"Of course, I took such offers as a compliment and generally accepted when time permitted. The problem is that these ambassadors and CEOs kept telling their friends and colleagues what a great tour they had. Suddently our foundation was being beseiged with offers for me to guide their VIPs through Valparaiso."

While most tour guides would love such publicity, the fame of being Valparaiso's most prestigious tour guide fast became a burden to the President of the Fundaciòn Valparaìso. The foundation administers some twenty cultural heritage and redevelopment projects with a very small staff. Time is scarce. To make things worse, Mr. Temkin is frequently out of town, invited to give conferences and seminars around the world.

Temkin insists that the foundation has studied many times the feasibility of opening up a tour agency that might help finance other foundation projects, "but we keep ruling out the idea as not being the most effective use of our time, energy, and limited resources."

"In the end," Temkin adds, "people always seem to want me as their guide and that is simply not feasible."

The situation got so out of hand the foundation's board finally stepped in. They said, "If you have time and the desire to give a tour, do it. But at least ask for a flat donation of US $500 for the foundation. That will serve as a filter, keeping the demand to a minimum and keeping you from having to go out on tours every week."

The filter policy has been, at best, a minor success. "Amazingly, even with that policy I still go out on one or two tours a month."

Once a major US multinational held its annual international board meeting in Santiago. Not surprisingly, the company's regional director called Mr. Temkin to see if he would escort the gentlemen's wives on a tour of Valpo. The company quickly agreed to the token $500 donation, even though the local (Chilean) event planner hired to organize the week's events tried to discourage them that the price was too high. The results were predictable. The delegation had the time of their lives. Ten days passed and Mr. Temkin received a hand written note from the Chairman of the company. Inside the envelope was a check for US $5,000 made out to the Fundaciòn Valparaiso.

"My friends have been chiding me ever since," Mr. Temkin says. "That comes out to about $1,666 an hour. Not bad."

For more information on possible VIP tours in Valparaiso, contact gdonoso@fundacionvalparaiso.org