Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuca, Chile

After one sea day on ship we arrived in Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas- Oct 27th

Oh my! What a great Birthday present! Chile is getting better and better. Today we started getting a small taste of what Patagonia will look like. We arrived on a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 60's.We were clearly able to see 2 snow topped volcanoes right away. We jumped on a bus to Puerto Varas (city of roses) and I couldn't believe I wasn't in Germany or Switzerland! Puerto Varas, the lake district,  was actually settled in 1853 by German immigrants. So most everyone is descended from German families. It was the strangest feeling to be in Chile but feel like Switzerland. They speak Spanish except in some schools and churches they still speak German.

Volcano, Mt Osorno and Lake Llanquihue

This volcano erupted in April 2015 and spewed about a meter of pyroclastic ash over a large area. However they assured us that they have such a great notification system that all residents were evacuated and the houses were all cleaned up post haste because they expect this sort of thing. 

We visited the national park near the Petrohue River, a great glacial river with waterfall over black volcanic rock.

Local produce at the stand. Did you know they don't eat asparagus? But it's a huge export to the US. Check your fruits and veggies at the market in the winter and you'll see Chile and Peru on some of them.

You can see the German influence in their hotels and houses. 

A most beautiful little city and they also eat sausage and other German foods. In the summer season of January- March, tourists come from all over to rent cabins (A-frames) and hotel rooms. However the lake is always too cold for swimming. Highways are in great shape and buses serve everywhere as good public transportation. The only downside is 200 days of rain they get each year, but no snow. Everything is very green and they have natural mountain rain forests.The coast is beginning to look like Alaska's inside passage but the Pacific here is very cold due to the weather patterns from Antarctica. 

Puerto Chacabuca- Oct 28th

NOW we are in Patagonia country and it is very sparsely populated in this region of Chile.This is a very small port in the island area of Chile and consists mostly of National Parks. It very much looks like Alaska and Canada's wild coast with snow capped peaks and thick forest as we made our way into the port. Of course the trees and bushes here are very different species than North America.

We took a tour about 10 minutes form shore into the Parque Aiken del Sur and walked a half mile into this mountain rain forest to a beautiful waterfall.The rock here is smooth and black. The rain forest is dark, wet and swampy. There was a large leafed rhubarb type plant and ferns. It rained off and on all day. 

After the walk we stopped at the park lodge, a round meeting hall on a beautiful lake with a fireplace in the middle.We were entertained with dancers in the traditional Chilean Gaucho garb,We were served empanadas, cheese, Chilean wine and Pisco sour, the lemony drink made from grapes. A fun time in  beautiful place with rainbows across the lake.