Sunday, Feb. 26th at sea

Today is our first day at sea, and “pacific” it is not.  The water is quite rough. I think maybe a 7-8 on the “Gale Scale.” We took a half a Bonine each to keep things under control, and that has worked really well.  My other tactic is concentrating on enjoying the rocking – it is quite relaxing if you focus on it that way – when was the last time someone rocked you to sleep?

But it was rough enough not to encourage a lot of roaming around, so we stayed seated or in bed, most of the day. We went to hear our first enrichment lecture, this one about {“Who Built Chile and Argentina?” focusing on the indigenous people. In the afternoon, we caught the tail end of a presentation on glaciers and took in the port talk via our TV.

I also got my haircut!  How prosaic!  But, the spa was offering a “Royal Nordic Hair Treatment” – so in addition to getting my ends trimmed, I got my hair washed and “masqued” with blueberries in a hot towel and  blown dry; a scalp massage, a neck massage and shoulder massage.  Haven’t done that… ever.  And I really enjoyed it!

Monday, Feb 27

Today, we visit the Lake District of Chile.  It is our first big shore excursion – a full day trip to the Vicente Perèz Rosales National Park to see the Osorno, Puntiagudo and other volcanoes and to take a cruise on Emerald Lake, also known as Lago Todos Los Santos. The lake is notable for the dark green, (emerald) color of the water and for the magnificent views of the Osorno volcano.

We rode the bus to the furthest point for the day’s itinerary and then worked our way back to Puerto Montt. After the lake cruise, we backtracked to the Petrohue Falls, and took a nice long walk to see the falls, whose backdrop is the Osorno Volcano!  The falls are not high, but they are notable for the way they wind around and though the petrified lava flows from the volcano. The water’s color is a sea foam acqua, very similar to the waters we saw in Slovenia.  The day is bright and sunny and warm, and this is a pretty walk.

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Back on the bus again, our next stop is Puerto Varas, an up-and-coming town originally settled by German immigrants. We stopped at Hotel Cabaña del Lago for lunch at 1:30 pm (We breakfasted at 7…) and we’re very ready for a Pisco Sour, sopaipillas (fried bread) with pebre (like salsa), a delicious squash soup, and salmon with mashed potatoes.  [The Lake District is known for its farming of Atlantic salmon, and the potatoes are the staple here.]  We also had kuchen for dessert, but I was too full to enjoy that.

After lunch, we went downtown. This town is the tourism capital of the region, so there was interesting shopping and a lovely walk along the shore of lake Llanquihue. After free time to explore here, we returned to Puerto Montt, the commercial center of this area. We arrived and left via tenders; the ship was at anchor in the bay.

We continued to sail in the Pacific.  Stay with me to see pictures of the Amalia Glacier.

Or take an aside to find out more about Life at Sea.  (Please note, this link goes back to the top of the Life on the Ship page.  Assuming you have already read that, skip down to the heading for February 28th.  Again, this page opens in a new screen, so you should be able to switch back here easily by simply closing that screen.)