Thursday, January, 18 Chilean Fjords and Glaciers

Wow, what a day of sailing! Looking out our port-side stateroom window we lazily watched the Chilean fiords pass by, while the Andes cascaded into the sea.

We took a nap and were awakened by the deafening sound of silence – no engines running. What could be happening? We looked up to see a glacier. We dashed to the top deck to get a clearer view. Stunning!

They lowered a life boat (above) to take supplies to a glacier observation station (below).

Dinner at Le Bistro – the restaurant on board ship that served fantastic French food in a quiet, romantic setting. Rack of Lamb and Chocolate Soufflé! What a treat!

Friday 1/19

At 7:30 AM the captain announced over the loud speakers that we were coming up to a glacier. We went to the exercise room to walk and watch the approaching spectacle.

We spent the day bundled up, watching the Chilean fjords pass by.

We had spectacular scenery at every bend.

The sun got hot – so I improvised a sun hat from my napkin!

At last, we entered the Strait of Magellan. Nancy has always wanted to see this sight. No disappointment. It was a thrill!

Monday, Jan 15 – A Day at Sea

We started every day with exercise, while enjoying a great view from the front of Deck 10.

A day at sea – heading south through rough waters. We began our habit of ordering breakfast in bed from room service. Delicious and relaxing! We also began our daily exercise routine of walking on the treadmills – Deck 10, in the front of the ship, with a beautiful, though bobbing, view. We enjoyed watching the bow of the ship splash though the waves and we held on tight.

Figure 1 George checks his GPS - Yep, we really are in South America!

We went to the 9 AM lecture on South America. It was boring, so we left. We went to the 10 AM lecture on shore excursions – not boring! - and we signed up for two.

Dinner at the Pasta Cafe

We had lunch at the Seven Seas restaurant, took an afternoon nap, relaxed and read our books, had dinner at the Pasta Café (what a view!) and then slept through a night of choppy waters.

Every few hours, the captain posted our position on this huge map hanging in the foyer of Deck 7. Here are details from our day at sea while we sailed from Valparaiso, past Concepcion, and on to Puerto Montt.

Wednesday 1/17 Puerto Chacabuco

We sailed all night, but in protected waters, so no chop or swells. Very peaceful! We anchored in the harbor of Puerto Chacabuco and tendered (or took boats) ashore.

It was fun watching the crew lower three life boats to be used as the tenders. They then lowered the gangway, which we clammered down to reach the boats.

We were pleased that one of the tenders was Lifeboat #10, our lifeboat. Good to see it was serviceable!

We visited Parque Aiken del Sur – a Patagonian rain forest. It is a private, for profit, park owned and operated by Detroit Chile, formerly Detroit Motors.

We walked along El Salto Creek. Fifty percent of this forest was destroyed by a fire, lasting 20 years, that was started in the early 1900’s to clear the land for settlement. We saw the young and old Tineo, Pilpis and Notro trees and the ubiquitous Maqui trees.

It rains 3000 mm/ year (10 feet!) here.

We lunched at a quincho, a traditional Mapuchu (or native) roundhouse.

They served roasted lamb and Pisco Sours (the traditional – and ubiquitous – before-dinner drink).

We met two new friends from Scotland, Irene and Kathryn, and we were all taken aback at the huge portions of lamb served for lunch!

We were entertained by traditional muicians and dancers.

Irene got caught up in the festivities!

Back on the ship, we read our books and watched the scenery go by from the aft observation deck.

Tuesday 1/16 Puerto Montt

We exercised while we sailed into Puerto Montt.

George successfully supervised our first docking! We arrived late at Puerto Montt due to difficult seas and strong head winds.

We disembarked at 10 AM for our first field trip – to Lago de Todos los Santos – Lake of All Saints – so named because it was discovered on All Saint’s Day.

We drove from Puerto Montt to Puerto Vara, through Ensenada up to Lago Todas Los Santos.

The clouds lifted and we had our first glimpse of Volcano Osorno. Breathtaking!

After an hour’s drive on a pleasant bus with a chatty tour guide, Cecilia, we boarded a boat for a ride on the lake.

We sailed on Lake Todos Los Santos for an hour, enjoying the view of Osorno (above) and the craggy mountains (below). The horseflies were monstrous, so we loved being inside the boat. These flies are only out in January so we were lucky! NOT.

Leaving the lake, we continued on to the Petrohue falls. Here the volcanic rock has been sculpted by the flowing river.

After the falls we went to lunch at a restaurant just outside of Ensenada, Chile, on the road to Puerto Vara (Rt. 225). Great view and great food. We hope to return!

We strolled around Puerto Vara, on the edge of Lago Llanquihue (-hue means place), enjoying a great view of the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes. We finally mailed a letter to Nan’s folks – the one she wrote a week earlier on the flight to Santiago. We had been searching for a post office all week!

Back at the ship, Vanna White shows off our state room window. On the wharf, there was a kiosk offering phone service to the US for 50 cents per minute. Nan called her folks – fun! Back on the ship – Seven Seas for dinner – early to bed – pooped!