Category Archives: South America

Santiago (San Antonio), Chile

Wednesday, 14 March:  Another day at sea yesterday, which was good as we had to be ready to leave at 6.30am this morning for a full day’s excursion to Chile’s capital, Santiago and the seaside villages of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso.  It was a busy day on board as well, as today was the end of the cruise for many passengers who were leaving the ship today and for others taking their places for the second leg.

It was a 90-minute trip each way to the 477-year-old city, which sits at the foot of the Andes.  Very interesting, lots of history with modern as well as historic areas, but we have seen lots of trash, especially plastic bags, strewn around the countryside and there’s hardly a building that hasn’t been defaced with ugly graffiti.  Such a shame.

I’ve noticed (with some concern) dogs on the streets, sometimes singly but mostly in pairs.  None of them looked undernourished but our guide explained that people are a bit lax with ownership.  However, they seem to be well fed by shop owners who like to use them as guard dogs.  I was pleased to find out that there is now a new law which says that dogs must have an owner and be micro chipped, so that’s a step in the right direction, although I imagine it will take a while to enforce.

Lunch was salmon once again, although we weren’t complaining as we love it.  It has a lovely flavor, different to what we have in Australia.  I think I’ll be all “salmoned out” though, by the time we get home!  Pisco Sour once again, I’m getting to like that drink a lot.  The restaurant was large and modern, with floor to ceiling windows.  We had a very nice time.

The seaside towns we visited were nice, but nothing much to say about them, just typical holiday spots with beaches, apartments and restaurants, much the same the world over.  We enjoyed the day though, and by the time we got back at 5.30pm feeling very tired, it was time to leave Chile for the last time and head for Peru

Puerto Montt, Chile

Following a day at sea, today, Monday 12 March, we arrived in Puerto Montt and headed to the Lake District to board a catamaran for a leisurely 45-minute cruise to take in the beautiful scenery around Lake Esmeralda. On the way to the lake we couldn’t help but notice the lack of trees.  Sadly, they were chopped down and set on fire by the German immigrants who wanted farmland and so the redwoods have all but disappeared from the area.  They must have been huge trees, as the locals are still digging up the roots and using them for construction.

It was a little rainy at times, but we managed to get some photos along the way of the rolling hills and snow-capped volcanoes.

Next stop was the Petrohue Falls, a popular spot for fishing, kayaking and white-water rafting. Unfortunately, there were many people all crammed in to a small area to take some photos, reached by a narrow, central concrete path.  It felt a bit unsafe as a lot of impatient tourists were taking shortcuts by climbing over rocks on each side.  I was afraid that someone would fall but luckily, we all got out of there without anyone getting hurt.

Next was lunch at a local restaurant.  Local salmon which was delicious followed by kuchen, a German tart with strawberries and the national drink, a pisco sour, not sure about the ingredients except for the special liquor and lemon, but it tasted very good.

Last stop was to Puerto Varas.  Nice little town, very similar to others we had visited but it had one different feature, lots of roses along the pavements.  They were getting a bit past their best but still very pretty.

 

Amalia Glacier, Chile

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Saturday, 10 March:  Thousands of years in the making, this afternoon we navigated through Chile’s narrow fiords where we were excited to see the unparalleled beauty of the Amalia Glacier.  I was surprised by its’ size – it covers a huge area. Seas were very smooth and only a little patchy rain as we caught sight of the glazier’s magnificent blue ice – made when the ice absorbs all the other colours in the spectrum and reflects primarily blue.  We also saw a couple of dolphins, but they disappeared after a few minutes.

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The captain had announced that we would be at the glacier at 4.00pm and sure enough, we arrived right on schedule.  The ship came to a stop and turned from starboard to port to that everyone had plenty of time to take photos and to appreciate this amazing spectacle.