Day 267: Antarctic Cruise Day 3 – Puerto Montt
Today was our first port of call: Puerto Montt, Chile! While technically in the Lake District of Chile, this area is on the border of Chilean Patagonia (we saw many hotels and shops calling themselves “Patagonia-this” and “Patagonia-that,” in order to attract tourists). We had originally booked a trekking tour with the cruise ship for today, but had to cancel it as Igor’s toe still hadn’t recovered enough for him to wear boots. We needed to keep our activities for the day sandal-friendly, so we decided to just explore the area on our own.
We also had a few errands to run: after several days of trying to organize a 4×4 car rental in Argentina for our upcoming road trip down Route 40, Igor got so frustrated with the lack of information, high costs and ridiculous insurance policies of Argentinean companies that he decided it would be easier to rent a car in Chile. Instead of driving down from Buenos Aires in a manual RV, we would now be returning to Puerto Montt and picking up a fully insured automatic 4×4 and driving it over the border into Argentina! (Ugh! We didn’t need to take a driving lesson after all!) The rental agency needed a copy of our driver’s licenses and passports for the border permit, so we decided to walk over and take care of the paperwork in person.
While we were at the rental agency, we decided to see if they had any cars available for the day – turns out the agency across the street not only had plenty of sedans free, they also had one with a manual transmission! Even though we were no longer limited to a manual car for our road trip, we decided to take one for a test drive anyways, just to see how difficult it would be for us – after all, it would be pretty cool to come back from this year-long trip with a new skill. We survived the day driving a stick shift (and even more importantly, so did the rental car!), but it got really stressful at the end of the day when rush hour traffic and fatigue set in – maybe we’ll stick with the automatic after all…
The clouds part as we come up to the shores of Puerto Montt
Catching a tender to shore
Chilean customs are very strict about bringing in foreign foods, so even though we just came from a Chilean port, we are not allowed to bring any snacks or a packed lunch off the boat – looks like we are skipping lunch again!
Walking across the downtown area of Puerto Montt
Instead of paying for an overpriced tour and sitting in a minibus with several dozen cruisers, we decide to rent a car and explore the area ourselves. We asked if the rental agency had any manual transmission vehicles so we could continue to practice the stick-shift skills we acquired in Bangkok…we decided to treat today as a dress rehearhsal for our Argentinean road trip next month
It’s a beautiful day for a Patagonian road trip! We get an almost clear shot of Volcan Osorno as we drive around Lake Llanquihue
When we stop for a photo op of Volcan Osorno, we notice a llama farm across the street – that’s what so great about independent travel, if you want to get out and feed the llamas, you can!
These llamas are so cute! They totally distract us from the yawning doggie in the background – poor guy…
Our ship was docked at Puerto Montt for a good 10 hours, so we had plenty of time to drive around and explore the area. The tour we were originally supposed to go on included a visit to the Petrohue Rapids – when we looked at the driving time, it turned out the park was only an hour away, so we decided to head over there on our own. We took it easy, exploring all the flat walking trails, so that Igor’s foot could continue to recover. Afterwards, we still had several hours before we needed to be back on the ship, so we decided to take the long way back to Puerto Montt, circumnavigating Lake Llanquihue and passing through the scenic towns of Frutillar and Puerto Varas.
When we get to the Petrohue Rapids, we find the park overrun with bright orange Seabourn jackets – we caught up with the USD $184/pp cruise tour! Gotta admit, we’re patting ourselves on the back for finding a much cheaper alternative to the organized tour
The Petrohue Rapids in Puerto Montt Chile – the crystal clear, bright blue waters remind us so much of the Hokitika Gorge in the South Island of New Zealand
Igor admires the raw beauty of nature
“Lover’s Creek” – a calm, quiet little pool of water along the forest path
Lindsay is spellbound by the abundant moss growing on the trees in the forest
A clear, sunny view of Lake Llanquihue, framed by wildflowers
The sunshine can disappear at any time in Patagonia – as we continue our way around the lake, it starts to rain
The GPS on Igor’s phone has been on the fritz ever since we arrived in Chile (for some reason it keeps thinking we are in St. Petersburg, RUSSIA?!? Is this Putin’s doing?!?!), so we are trying to navigate ourselves the old fashioned way: looking at road signs and a paper map! We misjudge the distance and end up taking a gravel road detour. Luckily, it’s impossible for us to get truly lost (as long as we keep the lake on our left hand side, we’ll eventually make our way back to the road to Puerto Montt), so we decide to drive slow and enjoy the scenic route
Exploring the Lake Llanquihue area via self drive
We stop in Frutillar for a short walk along the lake front – on a clear day there is a spectacular view of Volcan Osorno on the other side of the lake, but the rain storm we passed through during our drive has now reached the mountain and blocked the view
We have about an hour left before we need to get back on the ship, but we foolishly decide to make a quick stop in the pretty town of Puerto Varas on our way back – there is a beautiful red and white church, Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, that we want to try and see. We’re only 20min away from Puerto Montt after all, and we see lots of orange-clad cruisers walking around the street, so we know we won’t miss the ship. Unfortunately, rush hour traffic has started to clog the streets by this time, and poor Igor is so tired he is forgetting how to shift gears. After we get lost and stall the engine about half a dozen times, we decide a close-up of the church isn’t worth the trouble
Catching our tender back to The Quest
Once we were back on the ship, we hurried over to the theater to catch the matinee show before getting ready for another excellent dinner at the ship’s white-tablecloth restaurant. Bon appetite!
A Chilean dance troop comes onboard to demonstrate several versions of Chile’s national dance: the cueca
The performers wrap up the show by inviting guests to dance the waltz – even though Igor’s foot is still recovering and he has to wear flip flops, we can’t resist getting on the dance floor!
When we return to our room, we discover we have a visitor on our balcony! Luckily she doesn’t seem too badly injured (looks like she might have flown into the side of the ship), and she wobbles away after resting for a few minutes. We’re still at port, so there are no worries about her getting safely back to land, but we learn later that “bird strikes” will become a big ecological concern as we start to head out into open waters – apparently birds can get confused by the ship’s lights on stormy nights and can get stranded at sea if they accidently land on the boat and get carried out into the Drake Passage
Whew! It’s getting windy! Igor nearly gets blown over as we walk arcoss deck on our way to dinner
Lindsay finally breaks her vegetarian streak as DUCK is on the menu tonight! Igor remains pescatarian…for now..