Puerto Montt, Chile JAN 4 2025

On January 4, we reached the port of Puerto Montt, Chile (population 246,000). We could tell we had reached a larger city because of the ship’s warnings about pickpockets and grabbing of purses and cameras. We booked an excursion here to see some of the beauty of the areas away from the city.

We had an excellent, enthusiastic guide who spoke perfect English. When booking excursions in these remote areas of Argentina and Chile we had been warned that due to the remoteness of the area, we should expect the guides’ English to not be fluent. All of our guides spoke great English and in many cases their English was self taught. Shows what determination can do. Impressive!

From the moment we left the port the views were magnificent. I kept thinking “who knew Chile was this beautiful!!”

This excersion drove to Puerto Varas and along the lake Llanquihue to Osorno Volcano. The road was steep and winding with many switchbacks. At the top we were above the clouds with a nice view of Calbuco Volcano in the distance.

Osorno Volcano is 8,701 feet high, making it visible throughout the entire region. We could enjoy its beauty throughout the day. The volcano is still considered active but last erupted in 1869.  The area we stopped had a ski lift, hiking trails and a small cafe where you could get coffee and hot chocolate. It was very chilly at that altitude.

This volcano is similar to Mount Fuji in Japan.

After testing the bus’ brakes on the steep drive back down, we went to Puerto Varas, also known as the City of Roses. We didn’t have as much time as hoped here, but we did manage to find Bill a nice shirt and log a geocache.

We went to the Petrohue River Rapids located in Vicente Perez Rosales National Park.

We finished the day with a late lunch at a quaint restaurant owned by our guide’s family along the lake. They took great care of us with empanadas for appetizers, huge portions of local salmon or chicken, cheesecake for dessert and unlimited fruit juices, wine and the famous pisco sour. A delicious meal!

Sadly,after a day at sea we arrived at our disembarkation port, San Antonio on the coast. It has been a fabulous cruise full of amazing scenery. We are so glad we went!

But the fun was not over yet!! Our great travel agency had arranged two days in Santiago filled with activities. The disembarkation process from the ship went very smoothly and before we knew it there were five buses of us headed for Santiago.

Next up: two days of fun in Santiago de Chile is the capital and largest city of Chile

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