December 19, 2017

    Today, the ship was anchored in the harbour of Puerto Chacabuco, Aisen province; it is in the Patagonian region of southern South America and is the gateway to the Chilean fjords. The passengers took the tender boats to shore, for the third day in a row. The next tendering port is Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, almost two weeks away.

    The village of more than 1,300 is located at the head of Aysén Fjord. An important battle of Spanish South America’s War of Independence was fought here in 1817.  Here, Chile's longest suspension bridge is located connecting Puerto Chacabuco to old Puerto Aysén. Since the eruption of Mount Hudson volcano in 1991, Puerto Chacabuco has been the main port of the Aysén Fjord. Laguna San Rafael National Park is nearby. At another pier loading cars and trucks, there was a blue and white Coyhaique ferry.

   This morning the temperature was 12 C, wind 4 km/hour and mainly cloudy, with a few sunny breaks.  We took one of the maps of the region from the Holland America booklet. Besides a basic map of a port, it lists the port agent, in case you need assistance while visiting the port.

   From the ship, you could see a small waterfall cascading down to meet the sea, a river, snow-capped peaks, and a fish farm.  The tender boat ride was less than ten minutes. Small boats were beached since it was low tide. The terminal is modern and partly built from a metal container painted dark gray and accented with wood.  Steps 2,784

   Our excursion was to the Aiken del Sur Private Park for a hike through a forest to a waterfall.  The annual rainfall in the area is 3,600 millimeters, over three meters. After taking the tender boat to shore with Jan and Doug, we boarded our tour bus.  Our guide, Claudio, told us that we were lucky that it was not raining. The sun even made a brief appearance before we reached the park that was about a 25-minute bus ride away.  We passed homes along the route all of which have slopped corrugated metal roofs. At the visitor center, we learned that we are in a 250-hectare private park that was formerly a livestock farm purchased 20 years. The owners of the Loberais Hotel in the village have been adding paths for a two-hour nature walk that includes a waterfall, a circuit around Lago (lake) Riesco with a restaurant viewpoint to enjoy the mountains and the lake.  After a short description of the cultural history by our guide, including the land claims of the Mapuché population, we had a short bus ride to the trail head. The sky was cloudy now, but no sign of rain.

   The trail was a marked path of stones and grass, an easy walk on flat ground.  Trees, bushes and flowering plants lined the route. There were berries resembling blueberries that our guide called burrberry and pointed out which was the edible variety.  The round trip was a bit more than one kilometer which was covered at a leisurely pace.  There was a babbling stream that was fed by a 22-meter waterfall. The waterfall was called Barba de Viejo, which we were told translates to Old Man’s Beard. We had our picture taken with Jan and Doug at the waterfall. There was moss hanging from trees, a lovely red flower called the Chilco, fungus growing on tree trunks and tiny fernlike plants growing on tree trunks.  When the group returned to the bus, we were driven to a building in a clearing overlooking Lago Riesco which was surrounded by mountains. Here the three buses on the tour met for refreshments which included a choice of juice, wine or Pisco Sours to enjoy with several kinds of canapes, cheese cubes and finishing with cookies.  Refreshment refills were brought around several times. We also were treated to Chilean folk dances performed by three couples in front of the large central fireplace where sides of pork were barbecuing. Then it was back to the buses for the 15-minute drive back to the port.

    Steps 5,037

   From the terminal, we led Doug, Jan, Cathy and Mike up the hill on a rocky road to the Loberais Hotel which opened in 2001.  Here, we had a fast speed Wi-Fi connection with only 9 or 10 people in the lobby using the hotel’s Wi-Fi.  We posted several days of blogs and photos, including today’s photos. We then sent the rest of our Christmas letters that could not be posted as blind copies at any of four different ports. A Quebec couple from the ship asked for the password and told us that they phone home for free using an app called “Fongo”.  Almost two hours later we walked through the village to record some more of today’s steps. Some of the houses had colourful gardens. We returned to the terminal just as three buses returned from excursions, so we climbed the stairs to the lounge and ordered local drinks, a Calafate Sour and Roter Teppich Ale Hopperdietzel beer and chatted with Diane and Mike, passengers on the ship.

    It was just a short wait for the next tender boat to the ship. At a nearby pier was a red and white Navimag ferry loading cars and semi-trailer trucks.

    The captain’s 5 p.m. announcement informed us that the trip from Puerto Chacabuco to Puerto Arenas was 932 miles, taking about 2.5 days, including the slower cruising of the Chilean fjords.  He also said that after 10 this evening there could be three meter waves causing some rolling until late morning when we left the Pacific Ocean and entered the Messier Channel. Tomorrow’s high temperature prediction was 10 C and there was a chance of rain.

    Jan and Doug watched the sail away and had dinner elsewhere. Jerry and Violet and Shin and Joyce came to join us. Dinner starters were Lettuce, beet, tomato, palm heart and red pepper salad; mussel and leek soup and shrimp pil pil (cocktail). Entrees were mustard crusted tuna with an onion ring and roasted turkey with giblet gravy, dressing and cranberry sauce. Desserts were Chocolate cake with a dark chocolate ganache and white chocolate mousse and Gateau Argentine.

   Tonight’s 8 pm and 10 pm shows were performed by magician, Joe Devlin. It was mainly talk and not a lot of tricks, but several audience participation elements were humourous. After the show, we went to the Ocean Bar for the Milonga Hour. The Milonga Hour was to practice Tango. There were instructors to give an Argentine Tango lesson for passengers, none had taken the lesson a few days ago.

    The waves got higher as the evening progressed achieving 2.5 to 3 meter heights.  Even in our cabin, midship on Deck 2, you could feel the rolling of the ship. The rolling of the ship was more pronounced on the upper decks toward the sides.

Comments to this post are welcomed.

Final step count for today 11,486

A few pictures to be added