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Published: February 5th 2009
NAVIMAG
Our cargo ship transport. Highly recomended.We woke up in Puerto Montt hoping to catch a boat to Chacabuco immediately but lacking the crucial ingredient...a ticket. We found an internet booth and managed to find a phone number. It only took like 14 attempts before we found somebody that knew something. That was the easy part. After much blood sweat and tears we were able to decipher a street number and maybe even a street name from a patient man on the other end of the line. We literally ran to the office and were informed, “Boat full, but wait” Our next option was Tuesday…this was Saturday. I like Puerto Montt but I can think of a few other places I would rather spend 4 days. He made a couple of phone calls then looked at us and said, “You lucky, very, very, very, lucky, there is room if you want go now”. We paid the nice man and tried to compensate him but he said the boat company took care of him. We were stoked.
We had gotten a ticket on Navimag. This is a cargo ship that allows 80 passengers to ride it they want. Ya’…I was skeptical too. They funneled us into
the bowels of this huge ship where we stood like cattle in one little roped in area. Then this massive hydraulic platform lifted us onto the main deck. We went to our cabins which was surprisingly nice. We shared the four-bunk room with two other ladies and a small child. It was great. The crewmen were really nice and treated us like family. We could walk anywhere we pleased on the boat. Immediately after boarding they called us up to the cafeteria for a presentation. They took the time to explain our route through the Fjords and answer any questions we might have. They even took the effort to do it in Spanish and then English.
This was a 24 hour boat ride, so we had lots of time to chill. I sat in the lounge area and worked on my computer. Then something very odd happened, they started to project onto the wall videos of Elvis singing. I could have lived with the video, but unfortunatly they played the music to match…for hours. And not just Elvis, but all sorts of artists from the 50’s. It was incredible. I noticed there was a disco ball hanging from
the ceiling and party favors behind the counter I was intrigued I think they were starting a party.
Dinner was served in three shifts and we fell into the last category. The blaring 50’s music caused us to miss our dinner call. This aggravated me because we were sitting 20 feet from the food. To add salt to the wound they were serving salmon, potatoes, and veggies, our favorite, and a welcome change from bread, cheese, yogurt and beer.
During the night the boat started to rock and roll a bit. Not because of the blaring karaoke machine going strong in the lounge, but because we were in a stretch of open water. I got up at 2 AM and went for a walk around the deck to see the waves. It was pitch black and all I saw were a bunch of sea-sick passengers out on the deck for fresh air.
The next day we weaved through the fjord coming into Chacabuco. The narrowest section was about 500 feet which is pretty tight for a 500 foot boat. It was raining outside so all the passengers crammed into the wheel house with the captain. Ya’
you read that right…I don’t know how he saw around our heads, it was totally packed. It cracked me up. They won’t let you look at the wheel house in Alaska.
We met some great people on the boat including a young couple from the country/island of Malta who were both pilots for Malta Airlines. We had a great time swapping flying stories while looking out at the Chilean Fjords floating by. We landed in Chacabuco and took a taxi to Coihaique. I think we will park it here for a couple of days and visit our friends at NOLS.
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