GA Day 20 (cruise day 4) - After two days at sea we find ourselves in Puerto Montt on Boxing Day 2023. Aside from the dust-up in the dining room Christmas Eve, it really has been smooth sailing with little choppiness on the waves and a constant cool stiff breeze from the south. I wonder what it must have been like for the early sailors and tall ships that made the journey through these waters. Managing the sails and tacking with the winds in order to go in the right direction would have been quite the skill to have; my only frame of reference was the movie Master and Commander with Russell Crowe that had some incredible scenes navigating around Cape Horn. Oh, and about that dining room debacle - the offending family got moved to another area and we enjoyed a peaceful Christmas repast.
Sunset last night was much later at about 9:20 p.m. and it really did not seem to get totally dark most of the night; almost like the midnight twilight I experienced as a kid in Yellowknife. It was also the eve of the full moon and the brilliance on the waters was amazing. What is pretty spectacular is the moon's position now being to the northeast rather than southwards as we usually see it. Again, the sky last night was clear - a stargazer's delight.
Dawn came early at about 6:08 a.m. as we sailed into Reloncavi Sound to the port city of Puerto Montt that was largely settled by German immigrants. The sky was overcast when we dropped anchor but by early afternoon the grey skies gave way to brilliant blueness providing a view of the surrounding mountains - the gateway to the Andes. The Calbuco volcano was quite spectacular looking from the ship and is considered active with its last eruption in 2015. Also visible was the distinctive iconic conical peak of Orsono Volcano that is also still considered active, although its last eruption was in 1989.
Puerto Montt is more walkable compared to the other cities I have visited so far in South America. The malecon was quite amazing in terms of width and length extending almost the entire length of the city's waterfront with many people out for a stroll. The mix of old wooden structures and newer concrete buildings was quite striking - I suspect that many of the wooden buildings survived the 1960 earthquake that devastated much of the city. Similar to other cities on this trip, the wooden structures were painted in vibrant and contrasting colours, and varied in architectural design with some resembling the French style seen in Montreal.
Puerto Montt was quite a bit cleaner and better presented than many of the other cities I have been in so far this trip. It seems that the people take pride in the city noting the number of municipal workers gardening, maintaining the malecon, and manually sweeping the sidewalks. We noticed that there were very few homeless persons or overt signs of poverty in Puerto Montt as we had seen in Valparaiso, and virtually no panhandlers. The people we encountered were very warm and polite - during a quick stop in the Under Armour store at the mall the young man who served us was absolutely delightful in helping us out.
Of the stops so far, I would say this would be one of the more livable places if I decided to relocate. The water, the surrounding mountains, and general temperate climate appeal to me - in a way it reminds me a bit of either coast in Canada (minus the volcanos, of course), perhaps more so the West Coast. Some of the excursions for the passengers went to local lakes at the foot of Osorno and Calbuco that is the western edge of Patagonia, which I would do next time (yes - if the opportunity presented I would definitely do this trip again). Of course, learning Spanish would be necessary and all who know me will understand that I have little capacity for functioning in a second language 🙈
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