Cruise The World With Us

Friday – February 7, 2025

There is lots to see when we take excursions at the ports of call. But what can really make or break each of these explorations is the guide that leads us. Today that guide was Ingrid. I wish I could remember all she imparted about Chile. As I explain what we did today, I’ll try to include some of what she taught us. Should you ever journey to Puerto Montt, we hope Ingrid can show you her country.

Today was our first day to tender. Tender means the ship drops anchor and uses smaller boats (up to 120 per boat) to take people between the ship and the dock in the port. We have several more of these throughout our voyage so it was good to have an idea how much extra time it would take to get from and to the ship.

Our excursion today was to begin around 8:45 am and things were on schedule. When arriving on shore we were checked for produce being brought with the passengers. I saw someone had put a banana in their backpack but had to give it to the customs officer. This process didn’t take long. We headed to the lines of buses waiting to take us to our chosen destinations. Due to the number of different nationalities and languages, most excursions offer language-specific trips. At a minimum they all offer English. We were met by Ingrid who would host us for this trip. The 3 of us many times sit near the rear so we can get unobstructed views out the windows.

I included a map from Apple that shows the area we were going to explore – 2 volcanoes – Mount Osorno and Mount Calbuco. Osorno last erupted in 1835 and the eruption was documented by Charles Darwin. Osorno’s eruption produced lava which formed a mini-volcano near the base of the main peak. Calbuco was more recently active coming to life in April of 2015. This volcano does not release lava – it releases ash – and lots of it! I included a short video taken during the 2015 eruption as well as a still photo taken from the Puerto Montt harbor showing the height of the ash cloud. You’ll also find a photo showing MSC Magnifica at anchor with nearly the same background as the still from 2015.

Ingrid came from a family with a German father and a Spanish mother. I guess you can tell who won the naming contest for her. However, her father wanted her to go to a German school to learn German but Ingrid would not have it. She said she wanted to learn English so her mother sent her to the Catholic nuns and priests school to do so. She did not become a nun.

Ingrid’s family lived in the town of Puerto Varas which is close to Puerto Montt (the name is obscured on the map by a small picture). At the time she was growing up, Puerto Varas wasn’t anything special. Over the years people from Chile’s capital of Santiago made it a destination city which drove the price of housing very high. Ingrid said she was glad she was born there because she couldn’t afford to buy there now. We drove through Puerto Varas and Ingrid pointed out all the roses in town. Those were the result of a mayor who cultivated them for himself years ago and the town’s people thinking that was a good idea. So roses were planted everywhere.

Puerto Varas is on Lake Llanquihue – the largest lake entirely in Chile. When the lake appeared, so did Mount Osorno with its glacier-capped peak. We drove through the town and began a series of climbs to eventually reach a ski area on Mount Osorno. Along the way the retaining walls of the highway were colored with bright graffiti. I included a short video of one of those sections. As we drove Ingrid told us a little about Chile’s economy. Their largest export is copper – Chile is the world’s leader in copper production (about 25% of their total exports). She told us to pay attention to the streams that flow from the mountains as they are tinted green from the copper. She also told us they are the second largest producer of salmon – only surpassed by Norway. Norway and Chile seem to guide the market for salmon as OPEC does for oil – if there is too much they cut back to be sure the price remains in a profitable level. She said we would have a chance to sample their salmon when we have lunch.

We made our way up a winding road with plenty of switchbacks. We traveled through a national park that Ingrid said had a couple types of wildlife – a Chilean fox and a small deer perhaps like a dik-dik found in Africa (about the size of a dog). At one point the bus had to stop because it couldn’t make any forward motion. The driver solved that and we continued to the ski area. Once there (about 1,500 feet) we had a great view of the lake, Mount Calbuco and other mountains further away. There is a chair lift that takes people up another couple hundred feet to the point where the snow currently ends (you’ll see in the photos). The area around the ski lodge was covered with ash from the 2015 eruption of Calbuco. It is a dark brown color and heavier than regular “dirt”. Also more like very fine pebbles.

After half an hour or so we boarded the bus for the trip down the mountain, out of the park and into the park again at another entrance to go to Petrohue Waterfalls. Ingrid said these were more like rapids than waterfalls. As we drove down the mountain I saw a fox but wasn’t quick enough to get a photo. Maybe next time.

January and February in Chile are like our July and August. Kids are out of school so families take trips to parks like we do at home. As this was a beautiful day, there were many families visiting Petrohue Waterfalls (as you’ll see from a couple of the photos). You could clearly see the green tint in the water coming off the mountains. It was nice to see Mount Osorno from a different perspective while at the waterfalls. You could see where the eruption in 1835 had created a mini-volcano down the slope of the main mountain.

After spending 30-45 minutes at the falls (and dodging all the visitors) we boarded the bus to head for lunch. There were 3 or 4 buses making the same trip as us. We all descended on the restaurant at the same time and were served sopapillas, a drink that was like a warm margarita, wine, beer or soda, a plate with a large portion of salmon, potatoes and mixed vegetables and a white chocolate mousse dessert with strawberries. It was all delicious! Ingrid helped Kelsey wrap up the remaining sopapillas in a paper napkin to take on the bus.

Ingrid said it was going to be 45-50 minutes to our next stop (town square in Puerto Varas) so she would let us digest our lunch and keep quiet as we drove. Along the way Jan and I noticed that everywhere there were hydrangea plantings. I’ve included several that were on the way. Don’t know why they are so popular – maybe it has something to do with the soil. As we drove to the town square Ingrid advised that there had been a traffic backup on the main highway between Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt so our time at the square would be cut a little so we could make the last tender at 5:15 pm.

The town square was colorful with many roses (remember the mayor who liked roses), live pan flute music and vendors selling goodies. We walked around to look at the flowers, get a last look at Mount Calbuco and listen to the music. There is a short clip of the music with the photos. All travelers on our bus were back on time and we started off for Puerto Montt.

As we were traveling it became obvious we were not going to make the 5:15 pm tender. The first delay we encountered was a traffic accident. I got a photo of the car/van smash up. However, we waited even longer after that in traffic but with no apparent reason for the delay. We made the assumption it could have been 5 o’clock on Friday traffic. Ingrid did say that the influx of people to Puerto Varas has created traffic jams. We had been told that the ship would wait for any MSC-sponsored excursion. So this was a test of that statement – and it was true. There were at least 4 buses and several vans that arrived close to the time we did at the dock. 3 tenders were there waiting for us. Quickly the first tender was filled and left for the ship. I got a photo of some people enjoying themselves near the dock and a video as we approached our ship. We set foot on the ship around 6:35 pm – the sailing time originally was 6:00 pm. Once all the late arrivals were on board and the tenders raised and stowed the ship was under way – around 7:30 pm.

We missed our dinner seating (which begins at 6:00 pm) so went to the buffet to grab something to eat. Following that the evening’s entertainment in the theatre was a group of 4 musicians from the Puerto Montt area. Thanks to Kelsey there are plenty of stills from their performance and a few videos. Today was hectic so it will be nice to have a day at sea on Saturday – and no grocery shopping like we do at home!

Photos and video are ready but not the text. You can view the media here.