Wednesday February 11, 2015 - Puerto Montt, Chile

Wednesday February 11, 2015 – Puerto Montt, Chile

We arrived in Puerto Montt a little late.  We had a light breakfast and went to the Lounge to get our tour tickets.  Today we are off to a waterfall, a volcano, a lake and a city tour with lunch.  Judith was our guide.  We started with an hour and a half bus ride to a National Park and took a short hike to the river and rapids.  The rocks here were created in a volcano about 20,000 years ago.  The river narrows and rushes through the black volcanic rock.  Pretty views.

Tim and I hiked the other way away from the crowds and found a rocky beach with another set of rapids. 

 

Beautiful scenery in the National Park at Puerto Montt, Chile

Interesting geological features in the National Park

Rivers, waterfalls and rocks

Beautiful scenery

Waterfalls

Selfie by the rushing river outside of Puerto Montt, Chile

We hiked back to the bus and headed to the Osorno Volcano.  The ride up was one hairpin turn after another.  Half way up we went into the clouds and there were no vistas at all – just white.  We decided to hike to the “Red Crater” and took a rocky path that started up and up and up. It got windier and colder and mistier as we climbed.  I gave it up about half way as there was nothing to see but Tim was determined go to the top and he did.  We stayed there about 45 minutes and then got back on the bus and headed back down in the fog.  About 25% of the way down the volcano, the clouds pared on the peak and we could see the glacier at the top – spectacular views.

We headed down the volcano a little further and stopped to see the hole of one of the small craters – not as impressive.

 

The top of the glacier came out from the clouds just briefly

The glacier in the distance on the top of the mountain

We drove back to Puerto Varas – the city of roses and drove around.  There is a huge lake here where they grow salmon – a big industry for the area.  The lake was Lago Llanquihue.  A few people were actually in swimming even though it was so cold.  Judith said that the waters never get above the 60’s.

We went to a restaurant and had a good lunch with Pisco Sours, wine, empanadas, and salmon.  Tasty.  We dined with Winnie and David from New Hampshire and enjoyed their company.  We walked around town and stopped for a latte at a small café.  We went in some tourist shops but didn’t see much.  They have a lot of lapis here as there are mines throughout Chile.

We got back to the ship and took a short nap then dressed for dinner.  We had drinks with Putu in Horizons and then went to Toscana for dinner, the Italian specialty restaurant.  We shared a table with a couple from the Isle of Man, an elderly couple from Chicago, and a couple from Edmonton.  It was fun dinner conversation.  We closed the restaurant.  The dinner was fabulous and the wine service superb.  We decided to retire early so we could get up early to see some of the Chilean fjords that we’ll sail to on the way to Chacabura.