Puerto Varas, Volcanoes and Lakes

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This was our penultimate stop on the cruise and I was eager to see if the weather would clear to show us the views of volcanic mountains for which the region is reknowned. We did see the ones behind Puerto Montt as we sailed away but from a great distance. Only a couple of months before our trip there had been eruptions but we weren't planning to go that close. Plus there had been a severe earthquake on Chiloe Island.

We had booked the full day tour that included a boat ride in the National Park around the other side of Mount Osorno to Puerto Varas (City of Roses) hoping for a close view but the clouds hardly cleared so we saw only the lower slopes. However, en route we saw the devastation caused by the most recent lava flows and just days before our trip the roads had been blocked when heavy rain brought down the side of the mountain across them. Clearance must have been a major undertaking and so near the end of the season it is amazing what had been achieved.

Our guide was entertaining and allowed us to stop near a river where there were a couple of Southern Crested Caracara birds - 'Carancho'. Unfortunately some of the group rushed down to the shore scaring them off before most could see them. I did get a couple of distant photos. Our first scheduled stop was the Petrohoe Falls another part of the park with bright blue mountain water surging through a gully. The path was inevitably full of visitors on the short stop but we did detour away into the woodland to see what was growing. After the boat ride on the lake below Osorno we drove back to Puerto Varas for salmon lunch and were then given time in the town. Across the lake we could see clouds rolling up the side of Osorno with a ring around the top allow glimpses of the peak. By now the weather was clear and sunny in the town so a walk by the lake was lovely. Here we found some souvenirs for the kids in the family before heading back to the ship.

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Photos

Devastation
Rains devastated the sides of Mount Osorno months after an eruption.

Mount Osorno
It is there behind the clouds

Mount Osorno
across the lake from Puerto Varas