Puerto Montt

Seabourn may be an all inclusive company but that does not include excursions.  Once again, we have been fortunate to get escort duty so we don’t have to pay for expensive excursions.

The scenery, topography, and weather are a carbon copy of the Pacific Northwest.  It’s like Mother Nature just took the northern hemisphere and just folded it over to create the southern hemisphere.    We are in the lake district of Chile, which is about 2/3 of the way down the country.  We are cruising the inside passage.  Chile’s coast line is so rugged and convoluted that no one has been able to measure it.  If you can, look at a map and see how many little islands and waterways there are. 

The tip of South America is very rugged and remote and there is not a lot of civilization here.  Summer days are very long with the sunrise at 3:30am and sunset at 11pm.  There is no pollution to obscure the night sky.  It is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream environment with fishing, hiking, kayaking, river rafting, climbing, skiing, and sailing. 

The city was founded in 1852 during the German colonization of southern Chile.  This is an important seaport city with salmon fishing, trading, and tourism.  Ferries to outlying areas ply the waters.  Starting from here you can access lakes, beaches, the mountains and the famed Patagonia area.  This area is home to 2,056 volcanoes, 56 of which are still active.

Even though our ship is on the small side for a passenger cruiser, we had to anchor in Puerto Montt’s bay.  Michael and I both had the same excursion, but on different buses.  We tendered to shore and headed out of the city to meet up with the PanAmerican Highway that runs from Fairbanks, Alaska all the way to the tip of South America.  We passed by typical brightly painted German style houses with wood shaped shingles made from the protected Alerca trees that can live for 4,000 years.   These shingles are water and termite proof.

We drove along the shores of Lake Llanquihue, an inland sea that is the largest lake in Chile. Everywhere we looked there were volcanoes with tops iced with year-round snow. Rolling hills and lush green countryside rolled by our bus windows. Our first stop was a catamaran ride on Lake Todos Los Santos, or Emerald Lake named for its vivid blue-green color. We were so lucky as it was a warm and sunny day. It rains a lot in this part of the world. It was like being in Alaska.



The only thing that spoiled our ride were the HUGE horseflies.  I have seen horseflies, I have been bitten by horseflies while cruising the backwoods of British Columbia in the Water Walker.  I have NEVER seen horseflies this big.  I think they were a mutant species or something.  They were big and black and were almost an inch long.  They swarmed and landed on you, but were not vicious.  After the boat ride, we walked to Petrohue Rapids and were again having to deal with the horseflies.  This was not very pleasant.  Everyone grabbed a switch off a tree to try and swat them away.  What would have been a pleasant experience was ruined by these insects.  Apparently, they only appear for a few weeks and we were in the height of their season.  Awww, so gross.

We got back on board the hot unair-conditioned bus to have lunch at a hot unair-conditioned restaurant.  The air temperature was pleasant, but it seems as though southern Chileans don’t believe in windows that open.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by the local llamas.  They are dirty creatures and spit so we were cautioned not to get too close.  They are a member of the camel family.  There is the vicuna, alpaca, llama and quinacos species.  The wool from the vicuna is prized and is very expensive.  Hum, were can I get some???  I have been looking ….  Alpaca wool is wonderful; I love to knit with it.  The llama and quinacos wool is coarser.

Michael had salmon for lunch (I had chicken) and he said it was some of the best he had ever eaten.  After lunch, which included kuchen (a German dessert), I went looking for the llamas so I could take some pictures.  Again, I was assaulted by the damn horseflies.  I got a few pictures, but nothing grand.  I went nosing around and saw some knitted garments for sale and noticed one of the waitresses’ knitting.  Using sign language and rudimentary Spanish we managed to communicate about what she was making and what yarn she used.  My Spanish is getting muy bueno. 

Our final stop was to the beachside resort town of Puerto Varas.  I am surprised at how clean Chile is, no litter but plenty of graffiti.  The beaches were more gravel than sand, and the water was crystal clear.  There were lots of handcrafted items, mostly knitted.  I was not impressed with the knit items.  The ponchos and shawls were a bit garish in color and were knit or crocheted on really large needles.  The hats and mittens were OK.  I am still looking for a yarn shop. I want some vicuna!!!

It was a long ride back to the ship.  I was hot and tired.  Our last leg of the journey back to air-conditioning and a shower was the tender ride.  It was lumpy, bumpy, hot and stuffy.  It was like an E-ticket ride; we had to go slow as the water was boiling and rolling.  I prayed to get off before I got seasick.  I keep my cabin ice cold; the a/c is turned as low as it will go.  Poor Michael is freezing, but it felt so good to come home to a nice cool room.  A dual-head shower restored me to sanity.  Early to bed tonight because we have an all day excursion tomorrow.