Day 20 - January 23, 2008 - Puerto Montt, Chile

Puerto Montt - phoos
We are now 1/4 of the way through our adventure. Amazing. It is 8am and we cannot see our port yet. We should have been anchored at 7am. It is 8am. We have had any word or announcements about the delay or a new expected arrival time. Debbie is in close email contact with Gail of GVTours though and we are confident that they will be there when we get there. The downside is that we will have a much reduced touring day.
As Captain Romeo announced last night at the SSS party, we turned and got much calmer seas about 4am. It is really quite beautiful where we are sailing now between the island of Chiloe and the coast of Chile. It is about 57F and the wind is very cold. We can see the 2 snow-topped volcanoes in the distance, Osorno and Calbuco. The skies are clear and visibility is good, we hope it will hold for our land tour. Clay has plotted our position and speed and calculates that we are at least an hour from Puerto Montt. Captain Romeo came over the loudspeakers just now about 8:10am and announced that we are not there yet and that we will be at least another hour late. He blamed this on 7-8 knot currents in the channel we entered around 4am. He does not expect to begin tendering before 9:30am and since we are independent, we will not be allowed to tender without tickets until the end of the groups leaving. So, not telling at this point how reduced a day we will have here. Also, we seem to have now lost Internet and cabin phone service, so Debbie is only in contact with Gail through the Blackberry which is picking up a local signal. Oh, well.
Last night Bryan Townsend, the Cruise Director, called to tell us that he had spoken to several officers who were keen to do the Southern astronomy lesson that Debbie had requested. (Debbie and Margie had also enlisted Terry Breen in the cause after her prehistoric astronomy lecture the other day!) Bryan said that the moon was too bright now and that they would try to schedule it later and would either call again or put a notice in Passages when they are ready to do it. Also, Brandon, from Reception to whom Debbie made her initial request, stopped Debbie and Margie the night they attended the show and told them where to look for the Southern Cross. Alas, it was too cloudy that night to see the whole thing and they aren't even sure that they saw part of it. So, we will continue to wait patiently.
So, we arrived in Puerto Montt about 3 hours behind schedule. We waited for 4 tenders of ship's tour passengers to go out before they announced that the people with tender tickets could rush the gangway and they did. Oh well. It was nearly 11am before we were ashore. We got a quickie version of the tour that we posted a description of yesterday. This is a really beautiful area with the lakes and the snow-capped volcanoes. It is too bad that we did not have more time here. The curanto at the restaurant was a highlight for Clay. It should be noted here that Gail of GVTours speaks perfect English as he is an American living in Chile, however he doesn't speak any Spanish. Gail waited patiently for us even though he was there at the tender terminal area from 7am when the HAL Prinsendam had arrived. He did not abandon us. It was just the 3 of us in a nice, un-airconditioned, 4-door car. We paid $125 each as we had previously arranged with Gail. The price included lunch and entry fees. He spent the entire time out and drove the same distance regardless of the time we had here today. A warning about the Petrohue Falls. It was absolutely swarmed with black flies, big ones and small ones. We had been warned that the flies are attracted to dark colors, black and navy. We thought we had dressed accordingly, but Margie had a black purse and so did Debbie as well as her dark blue backpack. Those flies were all over them! It was truly bizarre, we did not notice flies anywhere else! Just something to keep in mind if you are coming here. We can recommend GVTours. http://www.gvtours.com/ gvstein@surnet.cl
We had perfectly clear skies here today and it was hot! We had been warned it would be warm in Valparaiso and it was chilly. We had been warned it would be cold and wet here and it was dry and hot. Weather! You just never know!
Tonight was Country Club Casual. We had a leisurely 4-course meal and enjoyed it. Then off to bed. We are exhausted. We look forward to 2 days cruising the Chilean fjords. Clay is working on his pronunciation. Within 2 days, he should have it down perfectly. Got email from Buenos Aires while we were out and Debbie's plan with http://www.cicerones.org.ar/ have fallen through. The volunteer they assigned to us is not available on Monday, Feb. 4. We are not comfortable going it alone all that long day, so we will have to make other plans. At this point, we probably have no choice but to book through the ship. We'll keep you posted.
Tomorrow we are expected to arrive in our next tender port of Puerto Chacabuco from noon to six. This is a pretty small and remote port, so we have booked a ship's tour. It is described below.
Patagonia's Nature in Depth
Duration: 5 Hours.
Hiking.
$98
The wild and beautiful Aysén District of Chile lies south of Chiloé and Puerto Montt. This 5-hour tour will provide you with a glimpse of this impressive landscape in the wet and windy region that makes up a part of the Chilean Patagonia. Upon arrival at Puerto Chacabuco, a 15-minute ride will take you on an outstandingly beautiful road up to the recently inaugurated Aikén del Sur Private Park.
This tour combines the wonder of nature, a sense of adventure, and a true connection with the virgin forests of Patagonia. Unlimited natural beauty can be found at the Aikén del Sur Private Park including such things as the banks of the placid, transparent blue waters of Riesco Lake, covering an area of 30 square miles. Some of the other sights you will enjoy at the Aikén del Sur Park include a 40 foot-high waterfall, indigenous perennial forests, endless prairies combining patriarchal myrtle and turf mingled with wild fuschia and calafate shrubbery.
At the park you will first visit the information center where an introduction to the whole area is provided. Tutorial stations will tell of the bio-geographical history of the region through three nature trails uniquely paved, railed, and bridged and containing scenic sights and resting places. Spectacular views of nearby lakes, rivers, hills, and mountains may be seen from scenic sites while listening to the singing of birds such as the chucao and the hueta. The River Trail of 5,000 feet will immerse you in the nature of Patagonia, traversing through prairies and the humid forest that characterizes this part of the world. At the end of the trail, the impressive sight of Old Man's Beard Cascade will await you. There will be some free time for pictures and a leisurely return along the Waterfall Trail before boarding your transportation to reach the quincho. There a delicious typical Patagonian barbecue lunch will be served. After lunch a leisurely ride returns you to the pier and the ship.
Puerto Montt - photos