Here in the heart of the Chilean Archipelago is stunning scenery, dense rain forests, bright blue lakes and snow covered mountain peaks. Puerto Chacabuco is the main port of call for the region and one of the few towns along the Chilean fjords. Though small in size, this town grants access to the vastness of the region and is the gateway to Patagonia.
Once again at anchor at the end of a very scenic inlet, kind of reminded us a bit of the inside passage of BC (British Columbia). This little town really did not have much to offer other than the domed handicraft market and a few empty streets as today is Sunday. Hmmm, without really knowing what was around here we just winged it and what a great day it ended up being.
The story…
Sunday began for me with some eggs Benedict, first time for me on this cruise and they were delicious - so started out well fed, lets just say that.
Marianne, Marcel, Jan and I jumped on the pretty much empty 10 am tender for the 10 minute ride to the dock and terminal. Walked through the terminal and headed towards the mentioned domed craft market. On the way we were ran into Alice (the assistant cruise director we have known from some past cruises) and were stopped in the street by what looked like a local bus driver - for 500 Chilean Pesos or about 1 USD he would take you to a town, ah, no thanks we are just walking around - Alice jumps in and says she is going, oh okay. No, we are good. Marianne asked the non english speaking driver where he is going and all the other cautious things you would ask a person like this. She interprets him as going to a town about 5 klms away. We say, going to get some exercise and walk to the town. So he leaves with Alice and a few more form our ship. Well, we check out what is available in this small port terminal town, not much so we head in the direction of where the bus was going. On the way we see a sign to the closest town being some 14 kilometres away, hmmm, is that right? We start walking.
Beautiful scenery as we stroll roadside, lots of picture opportunities but it is one of those windy roads where you say, okay lets see what’s around the next corner and then the next, then the next for about 4 kilometres, hmmm. At a farmhouse, Marianne attempts to get some direction and information from a women outside a farmhouse. The loose interpretation is 10 of something, either minutes or kilometres, I’m thinking kilometres and we have seen a lot but enough is enough at this point. So I say, we have a few options here, 1) start heading back, 2) continue and take a chance or 3) get on one of the buses that come past us every once in a while. Marcel says, well where’s the bus stop, I say, that’s not a problem, I’ll make one right here, here? he says and I say yes, hey look here comes one now (the same yellow one from earlier), I wave, he flashes his lights and pulls over. In the bus are our Tai Chi Teacher and Michel and Silvie - now what are the chances of that. We jump in and pay the 1,000 pesos and are on our way to the town, yes another 10 kilometres away. Good call I say…
Again, Sunday, so not much open but a few shops and the driver says as he drops us off that he will be back here in a hour for the ride back, okay sounds good. The other good news is that in our bus is the Wine expert from Chile, Daniel Soto and his wife, (who is on the cruise for the next few days) who helps some of the guests out in the wine store with some wine selections and can talk to the bus driver so we all feel a bit more comfortable. So we walk around a bit take some pictures visit a couple stores and come back in the hour and he is there waiting for us, great.
We get on the bus and now Alice is back with us, so all good. The bus driver asks if people wants to see the bridge close up (through the interpretation with Daniel), yes that would be great, okay we have a mini tour here. So we do this and then continue on our way and then our driver makes another right turn and then a left turn down some residential street, ah, this is not the correct way? Daniel says its not a problem the driver wants to stop and get something from his house, ah okay… he stops in front of a house and runs into the house and comes out with a 2 litre bottle of some kind of drink and a bunch of plastic cups. Daniel says, he wants us to try the local drink here made out of some kind of berry (he told us but I still can’t remember the type). Daniel is confident that this is not a problem and that the driver is just being hospitable. He fills the about dozen cups and we all cheers or salute and shoot the drink, hmm pretty good - no the driver did not have any, he is driving after all. He takes us right back to the tender port and everyone gives him a generous tip for his generosity and great service.
So lots of fun in what was a nothing port turned out to be another great day and we got some great exercise. The other highlight of the day was the Tango show put on tonight, wow, what a talented couple showcasing Tango in the show lounge tonight. We then returned to our rooms tonight with a weather warning from the captain. Dear guest, it starts, The most recent forecasts are showing deteriorating weather conditions for our transit to Punta Arenas. We can expect swells and seas exceeding 5 meters (15 feet) in height over the next 2 days which will result in rolling and pitching of the ship. It goes on but you can see that we are in for some action out here. Already pitching pretty good as I write this. So I am wrapping up our day here.
Hope you enjoy our few pics of our day…
Quote of the day: “Once you have traveled, the Voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break from the journey” - Pat Conroy
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