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!