The Coast of Chile

We continued on the Strait of Magellan towards the Pacific Ocean meandering along the coastline taking in the natural beauty.  We sailed along the Sarmiento Channel along a chain of mountains and took a side trip to view the Brujo Glacier.  As we neared the glacier the temperatures dropped and there was brash ice everywhere.  It was spectacular Patagonia scenery.

Sarmiento Channel

Mountainous terrain

 

Unlucky mariners

 

Brash ice as we approach Brujo Glacier

Checking out the glacier from our balcony

Brujo Glacier

Up close to the glacier

Next we stopped at Chiloe, a large island off the Chilean coast.  The port town where we stopped is Castro (population 30,000).  Castro is the third oldest city in Chile so there is a rich history of Spanish exploration here.  We took a tour to see the highlights.  We saw some colorful stilt houses called Palafitos that were built to accommodate the huge tidal fluctuation here.  Many of these old houses now contain shops, bars and restaurants.  We toured an historic house in the old town area and visited a couple of churches that were left over from the days of the Franciscan monks that settled in the area.  These well preserved houses and churches offer a glimpse into the past and are designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Mussel farm as we approach Castro

Anchored off the coast of Castro on Chiloe Island

Historic churches around Castro

 

 

 

 

Low tide

 

Palafitos (stilt houses) at low tide

 

Sea lions near the pier

Sea lions grabbing the salmon scraps

A well fed sea lion frollicks at the pier

Our last stop of the cruise before reaching Valparaiso was in the port town of Puerto Montt which is known as the Salmon Capital of Chile.  The beautiful landscape along the coastline is dotted with salmon fish farms and mussel farms. For our last tour, we chose an opportunity to hike in a national park called Alerce Andino National Park.  We hiked through a temperate rainforest that is part of the Andes Mountains.  The trail took us to a picturesque lake called Lake Chapo where we had a picnic on the bank of the lake before hiking back.  Our group of 14 had the whole trail to ourselves.  We enjoyed the remoteness.  Our informative guide told us all about the great outdoor lifestyle available in this area. It was a terrific hike!

Hiking in the national park

Sign showing Chile's version of Smokey the Bear safety warning

Beautiful swinging bridge on the hiking trail

Only 3 people at time can be on the bridge

 

Beautiful Lake Chapo in the Andes temperate rainforest
 - our destination

We feel very fortunate to have traveled up the coast of Chile stopping in these small port towns and seeing amazing scenery and Chilean historic and cultural sites.. We saw parts of Chile that many Chileans don't ever get to see.
 Next stop is Valparaiso, Chile and disembarkation from the Seabourn Quest. Time to go home!!!!