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| View From our Ship of Tents on the Sandbar |
As usual, in the early morning, the Viking Sun slipped quietly into our next harbor, Puerto Montt. What surprised us this morning as we looked out our balcony doors was seeing small tents scattered on a sandy beach, just 100 feet from our ship. Backpackers were camping, getting ready to hike into the National Parks around Osorno Volcano....and so were we.
We had ordered room service which came 20 minutes earlier than requested, but we were already dressed since the last time we ordered room service it arrived early and caught us still in bed. The other thing we learned through trial and error, is that morning coffee and long bus rides do not go together, so we skipped our ritual two cups of cappuccino and lattes. We loaded our backpack with hats, sunscreen, water bottles, cameras, and our "QVs". (Quiet headsets, for listening to our guide) We checked in at the Star Theater and waited for our group to be called. Boarding the bus we breathed a sigh of relief as our guide spoke perfect English since our old ears have trouble with strong accents.
Our first destination was Vicente Perez Rosales National Park. We walked the paths along with many vacationing Chileans to Petrohue Falls. Due to fog, the snowcapped volcano that looks like Mt Fuji was barely visible, but the Falls were beautiful.
Back on the bus, we drove up the Volcano and instead of taking the chair lift for a higher, foggy, lake view, we hiked the cinder cone paths on its barren slopes. Most of the volcanoes in the area are still active but have not erupted for years...200 years for this volcano, but one of the five nearby still erupts every 20 years, and is due again soon.
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| Trail up from Parking Lot |
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| Overlook of Lake from Side of Osorno Volcano |
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| Top of Osorno Still Hidden by Clouds |
On the way back to the ship we visited Puerto Montt's little sister city of Puerto Varas on Chile's second largest lake. Puerto Montt was named after the Chilean President Manuel Montt, who in the late 1800s opened up the region (selective immigration) to Germans since the government wanted the area developed. The German influence is seen in the town's architecture, some German signs, and the prestigious high school, Deutsche Schule, which still has an exchange program and support from Germany.
The bus stopped right in the middle of Puerto Varas, and we had an elegant meal at the Belle Vista Hotel, with empanadas, soup, local salmon and corn followed by a delicious raspberry, strawberry pavlova. Then it was a quick walk around the many shops for their booming tourist business before returning to the port.
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| Boardwalk with Many Vendors |
Once back at Puerta Montt, we had thirty minutes before we had to be on board so we took a quick walk past the handicraft marketplace with woolen and leather goods, then bustling seafood restaurants for the locals, right next to a colorful fish market.
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| Produce by Fish Market |
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| Fish Market |
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| Views of Downtown Puerto Montt as we Sailed out to Sea |
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