Puerto Montt is the port for access to the “lakes district” of Chile. A number of big lakes, but many more volcanoes – some of which have erupted as recently as last year. There was a big eruption in 2015 and I’ll post a photo of it when I can.
Our tour included a great waterfalls site inside of a national park. In addition to looking at the various falls, we hiked a short trail in the park. None of the falls were gigantic, but the number of falls seemed endless. None of our photos of the falls were dramatic, so I am not attaching any.
We stopped for several photo opportunities and spent about 90 minutes in a small lakeside town that had some very nice restaurant choices for lunch. We chose the Dane Café, partly because our guide said we could order half-sandwiches. It turned out to be a great choice, a small cute place with good food.
In 2012 we started our Antarctic cruise in the port of Valparaiso, so we were curious as to why our port this year for access to Chile’s capital of Santiago was in nearby San Antonio, instead of Valparaiso. It turns out that the Valparaiso port was privately owned and the owner decided he could make more money from additional freight traffic than from cruise ships. Thus, to the consternation of the business community and those who make their living from tourism (at the time, the Valparaiso area’s #1 source of income), he ended cruise ship access to the port.
We had spent some time in Santiago in 2012, so this time we stayed in the port city and walked, walked, walked. We walked along the waterfront past about 300 small fishing boats anchored or tethered in the harbor. Nearby was the outdoor fish market with at least 20 different kinds of fish for sale. We didn’t recognize the Spanish names for the various fish and we didn’t think to use the translate feature on our phones. So all of those fish shall remain anonymous for us! Nearby were some large seals basking on the rocky shore, reminiscent of the seals that lie on floating platforms at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
We also went to a mall and bought a few needed items and bought some supplies for an upcoming milestone birthday in our group of friends.
Now on to Easter Island in the Pacific – February 16. Nine sea days in the next ten days. And we love the sea days!
Some of my four photos below might not post properly. Internet is spotty.
Loving Dave’s travelogue. Sounds wonderful. Nice pics Mary. Whose afraid of turning 80??
Hi Dave- Love the photos – great capture of the volcano erupting. Hope you are enjoying the nine days at sea! Tell mary I sent her a message back in the messenger app. It’s been an especially busy few weeks here. Shane and Steve were supposed to go away this weekend for lacrosse but it’s been cancelled due to weather. I’m sad for Shane but happy for Steve & I to be together one weekend.