South America, 2014: Puerto Montt, Chili

17 March 2014

After we cleared the Magellan Strait, we were on the Pacific Ocean again. We had one day at sea before our next port, Puerto Montt. The Pacific Ocean was still very turbulent and the weather was very cold. We pretty much stayed inside, attending a couple of lectures and watching some movies in our stateroom. Even though we bounced around quite a bit, I found the day at sea to be relaxing and restful.

The ship anchored off shore and tenders were used for the passengers wishing to go ashore, so I stayed on board and Russ took a tour of the Lake District. This town is the gateway to an area of Chili famous for its rainforest landscape, lots of lakes including eight very large ones, villages that have a look of Europe because of the settlement of the area by German immigrants and, finally, volcanoes, some of which are active.

South of Puerto Montt, the landscape switches to the rugged, glacier scraped lands that we have seen for the past 3 days. The coastal land of Chili sinks into the Pacific leaving the Andes to complete their march south.

The day we were in the area, it was cloudy, rainy and cold, but it cleared up a bit in the afternoon, so Russ was able to get some nice landscape photos.

The town of Puerto Montt is a nice harbor town, much different than most that we have seen. Housing is decidedly European in flavor and the gardens and homes are well taken care of.

First, Russ took a catamaran ride on Lake Llanquihue which is the 3rd largest lake in South America. This is a major resort area for South Americans and there are lots of nice hotels, restaurants and shops along the shoreline. The Osorno volcano is visible on clear days across the lake. This volcano is often called the “Fuji of South America” because of its symmetrical snow-capped peak.

They then took a bus ride to Futillar, which is a German settlement known for its roses and views of the volcanos across the lake. They stopped for lunch at a local hotel. Traditional Chilean food was served including salad, potato and chicken. Pisco sours were provided to those who wished to imbibe. These Pisco sours are pretty good; Pisco is distilled from the Pisco grape and it is very potent (44% alcohol.) The locals mix it with lime juice and “sour mix” to make this cocktail. Lots of people were buying bottles of Pisco.

On the way back to the ship, they stopped in the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park for a walk out to some waterfalls on the Petrohue River. This is a glacial river which reminded me of the ones we saw in Alaska.

Then it was back to the port and the ship via the tenders.

The weather was cool but decidedly warmer than the previous days. I think we are finally getting out of the really cold turbulent weather of the far south. In a week, I will probably be complaining about how hot and humid it is and remembering, with longing, the cooler weather.