Ten Days and Five Ports in Chile -- Day six: Puerto Chacabuco January 24, 2016 and Day seven: At sea January 25, 2016

Day six: Puerto Chacabuco

January 24, 2016

Welcome to Patagonia! We are anchored in the middle of a Chilean Fjord surrounded by green mountains backed up by snow-covered peaks and glaciers. The scenery is breathtaking. Words and photographs cannot do it justice! Over 60% of the ship’s passengers took shore excursions that included such activities as fly-fishing, horse-back riding, kayaking, hiking and sight-seeing. We took the tender to the cruise dock where we caught up on free wifi, asked questions about the region, and visited the crafts market. Then we returned to the ship and enjoyed the scenery that surrounds us.

Chacabuco knitter

See the ship behind me in the fjord.

Puerto Chacabuco has a population of only 2,000 and is the primary port for the Aysen Region. Nearby is the town of Aisen with a population of about 20,000. The region’s capital city, Coyhaique, is about ten miles away and has a population of about 50,000. Sad environmental commentary – about 100 years ago Aisen was the port. But when farmers cut down the trees to create farmland, the surrounding bay filled with soil and Aisen found itself inland.

When we left we sailed through the Darwin Channel – miles of beautiful mountains of green forests with the occasional waterfalls snaking down the mountain from the glaciers above.

The captain warned us that when we reached open ocean again we should expect a rocky ride and, sure enough, at 10:00 p.m. when we exited the Darwin Channel the ship began to roll and pitch. We made our way back to our cabin and “strapped” ourselves in for the night.

Day seven: At sea

January 25, 2016

After a rocky night, John has woken up sick, so we have cancelled the Chilean Cellar Master’s dinner for this evening. The good news is that we have entered another Fjord and the seas are calm again for a while. It is unusual for John to get seasick, it has happened only once before. However the scenery is beautiful again and a little chicken soup, some crackers and a green apple should be just what he needs to feel good again.

During the night our lovely flowers fell victim to the movements of the ship and toppled over. The water that spilled on the desk got into my Kindle Fire tablet and it doesn’t seem to be working. We will know better later after it has had time to dry. I wonder if my Amazon Prime can get me a new one delivered to Buenas Aires by February 9^th. ;-)