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Published: October 27th 2010
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Puerto Montt
In the afternoon from onboard the ferry, after the masses of cloud had disappeared After Puerto Montt, at the extreme southern tip of the Chilean Lake District, Chile breaks up into a mass of islands, channels and fjords. The only way to see this beautiful, yet predominantly deserted area, is by boat. From Puerto Montt there is a weekly ferry to Puerto Natales, in Chile´s far south, which travels through this remote area. Although expensive (US$300 for the cheapest accommodation in low-season, although with a 10% discount through getsouth.com), the Navimag ferry was definitely worth it.
I arrived in Puerto Montt early on the morning that the boat was scheduled to leave, having already reserved my passage in Pucon. After check-in, I had a good few hours to have a look at the city of Puerto Montt itself. A typical port city really - dreary and industrial, with no reason to visit other than to catch the ferry. I can see why it has earned the nickname "Muerto Montt" (Dead Montt). The ferry was scheduled to depart at 4pm, with boarding commencing at 1pm. As it is a ferry rather than a cruise ship, it had 2 levels of vehicles below the passengers´ decks (as Puerto Natales can only be reached by road by
crossing in and out of Argentina). In the end, we didn't actually leave until after 6pm, but the delay didn't really matter - it gave everyone a chance to meet one other. There were only around 60 tourists on board, of which I was definitely among the youngest. A couple of other backpackers, but mostly middle aged travellers and couples. But that made a nice change from the people I usually come across. As soon as we got underway, most people headed up to one of the upper decks to watch the scenery go by. That is, after all, the main reason for being on board. The first day we didn't see much, as there were only a few hours of day light left. Besides Puerto Montt and the surrounding Reloncaví Sound, we also passed Chiloe, the second largest island in South America. The channels we were sailing on were all very calm, with no rough seas, as the islands to the west provide a breakwater for the rough Pacific waves. So to start with at least, it was very comfortable on board.
On Day 2, we were very lucky with the weather, in that the day started off
sunny and bright. We were sailing past thousands of small islands, with few other vessels and no towns or villages to be seen. It really was beautiful. At around 6pm we had to head into the open Pacific for around 12 hours. The weather changed quite quickly, and the ship was bouncing up and down on the rough seas (though nowhere near as bad as it gets in winter, the crew informed us). I didn't feel too bad until I had to get up after dinner. In the budget cabins, 2 decks down, the motion was even worse; that said after I was sick, I managed to sleep through the rest of the time on the open Pacific.
I woke up on the third morning feeling much better, but unfortunately the weather had turned, with heavy rain. But at least we were no longer on the open Pacific. We were now navigating through the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, which is the third largest national park in the world and larger than the Netherlands. The scenery was once again stunningly beautiful, with the snow-covered mountains of the Patagonian Ice Field visible beyond the lush green valleys we were sailing through.
We were originally going to go ashore at Puerto Eden, a small fishing village after which the ferry is named. Even though by the time we got to Puerto Eden, at around lunchtime, it was warm and dry, we still were not allowed to go onland for health and safety reasons. Namely that many of the walkways are made of wood, and walking on damp wood is apparently considered too dangerous. We stopped anyway to pick up a dozen or so locals; this ferry must be their main mode of transport as the village is so extremely isolated.
After Puerto Eden, we passed through some narrow channels (140m wide), including one with a shipwreck in. And many, many more islands as well. In terms of spotting wildlife, there were seabirds constantly visible from the ferry, most commonly cormorants and a few types of albatross, as well as some other varieties that I couldn't identify. We saw dolphins a few times as well, but other mammals such as whales and sea otters eluded us (you really need good luck to see either). We had talks (in English and Spanish) on the animals and birds that we might be able to
see, as well as on the Torres del Paine National Park where practically everyone would be heading to next anyway, so the range of information on board was definitely adequate.
We were told to get up bright and early on day 4 for the narrowest point of the journey - the White Canal, which is a mere 80m wide. Unfortunately I arrived on deck at 6am, when they said we would be passing through, only to see it already behind us. But it must be difficult for the crew to predict when we will be in certain places. I stayed up on deck to watch the very red sunrise, before then having to pack and get ready to disembark straight after breakfast. We arrived in Puerto Natales at around 8:30, and were off the ship an hour later. In hindsight, it was a good trip, principally because the weather was good. Amazing scenery, friendly crew (knowledgeable and they let us on the bridge) and reasonable food (the only meal I didn't like was on the night I was sick and didn't feel hungry anyway).
Puerto Natales, the port where we arrived, is a city in the extreme
Shipwreck in Bajo Cotopaxi
A Greek ship that the crew tried to sink in the 1970s (insurance claim), but unfortunately they scuttled the ship on the only rock in the channel. south of Chile. It is a barren outpost of 20,000 people, situated on the Last Hope Sound (a very cheery name, I'm sure you'll agree). On the day that I arrived, the winds were ferociously strong, making it difficult just to walk to my hostel. There wasn't a great deal to do in the city itself - pretty much the only reason people come here is to visit the internationally acclaimed Torres del Paine National Park, so I spent the greater part of the day investigating what my best options for the park would be, as well as purchasing the relevant commodities, before heading to the park the following day. The next blog will come from there.
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