The fishing port of Puerto Montt marks the official end of the beautiful lake district of Southern Chile. Founded in 1853 but it wasn’t until 1912 that Puerto Montt was connected by rail and then became the contact point of the rest of the south. Puerto Montt, for many years as “the end of the line”, whether travelling by rail, dirt road or highway. This region was first settled by German immigrants beginning in the mid 19 century. By the 1900’s the German colonists numbered over 30,000. Today, German surnames and language are still common and the area is famous for delicious sausage, cakes and pastries. The top three industries here are fishing agriculture and tourism, in that order. Puerto Montt's port is protected by Tenglo island and the calm waters of the bay give the town a tranquil air. Puerto Montt is also the starting point for any tourists who arrive to visit the famous lake Llanguihue to the north, one of the most visited sites in all of Chile.
With another beautiful sunny warm day in front of us we headed out for a cruise critic tour to the Vicente National Park and Puerto Varas. Just a quick note on tenders, we were told of the early morning tender ticket lines, so with this I was up at and in line by about 6:30 (for 8am tender tickets) - the last time I will do that. Yes, you have the early risers but I was a dozen deep in line and by about 8am there were all of another dozen behind me - hardly worth the early effort. We were on the same tender as the 8am people. I digress, our day was indeed excellent as the Volcanic Mountain, Osorno was in rare clear view. The Vicente National Park, part of the Andes offered excellent hiking trails along with a beautiful water fall. We had about an hour and a half to wander the beautiful trails here. We then headed to the German town of Puerto Varas, this town sites on the edge of lake Llanguihue, beautiful. As today was a Sunday, residents and tourists were out enjoying the lake with its long stretch of beaches. We stopped for a taste of a local beer, Kunstmann. Funny, I stopped at a food cart for an Empanada and the guy was playing german oom pa pa music, how cool is that. There are plenty of restaurants and artisans shops here, worth the visit. A few pics of our day, I hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day - “The most effective way to do it is to do it.” - Amelia Earhart
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