The Chilean Fjords - Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabucu

We had our first experience of rough seas on our way to Puerto Montt, it wasn’t so much a big sea, but a large swell which made standing upright quite difficult. Just like drunken sailors all over the place. When we arrived at Puerto Montt it was raining and foggy, a real pity as there are some amazing volcano’s with snow capped tops that we were unable to see. We did an excursion visiting two small towns Puerto Varas and Fruitillar.

 Both these towns are located on a very big lake, Lake Llanquinhue and are extremely picturesque. This part of the Chilean Fjords were initially founded by the Germans and there is a marked German influence in the construction of houses etc, lots of shingles. Very pretty indeed. 

                                                                                      The concert pianist
Fruitillar is the location of an annual Music festival that runs about 10 days and the theartre where it is being held has been constructed out into the lake (another black sand beach)and is clad with different colours of timber. Bad luck about the weather because on a nice day it would be magnificent. Once back to the ship we diverted to quite a large market, lots of craft markets but also a fish and farmers market. Took a few photos that you can see below. Tonight the Cruise Director Ray presented his own show. He is a very good singer and is a ventriloquist, he performed before the Queen with a puppet show and showed us his version. He is a delightful CD, works very hard and has been at sea for 43 years. His first ship was the QE2.

                                                                                         Balls of Llama wool

                                                                                    Gloria stopped this little girl from crying

Jan.30. A 11am arrival in Puerto Chacabuco saw us pass several fjords not unlike the Norwegian fjords we saw in July last year, it is raining and there is a lot of fog so we can’t see the snowcapped mountains. Bugger!. This is the first port we have tendered so far and we don’t have an excursion, we will go into town later if the weather picks up. it is about 12 degrees and very cold. Just had a game of darts and Tony showed the advantage of his misspent youth at the Beach Hotel and won. Woo Hoo. Tonight we have a special dinner and show for those going right around SA. We have booked a table for 8 that includes the first people we met at the Ritz Carlton. Should be a good night, we all get on well with each other.
Well the day got worse, cold, wet and windy so we decided to stay with the warmth of the ship.