February 4, 2022. 65°F/18°C

#myvikingstory

We discovered during our time in San Antonio Texas at the beginning of 2020 that “Germans are everywhere”. Well, they certainly are in our house (me).

Today began at the city and commune of Puerto Montt. The city was founded on February 12, 1853, and named after Manuel Montt, who set in motion government-sponsored immigration from Germany beginning in 1848 to populate the region. Modern day Chile still has around half a million people (out of a total population of just over 19 million) directly descended from those early German immigrants. Prior to being settled, this region was called Llanquihue, which is the name of the large lake here, and was mostly uninhabited forest. (Uninhabited because the Mapuche people, after successfully fighting off the Spanish for almost 300 years, couldn’t fight Mother Nature, and moved out of the area after the huge volcanic eruption of 1835 impacted their livelihoods as livestock farmers.) Puerto Montt now has around 250,000 inhabitants, only about 20% of whom belong to one of 9 different indigenous groups, Mapuche being by far the most prevalent.

It’s a small and fairly shallow port, but we were fortunate to be able to dock instead of anchoring offshore, since there were no container ships making deliveries.

From the port we travelled 90 minutes by bus to a crater called “The Bubble” at about 4000 ft above sea level on the side of the Osorno Volcano, then to Petrohué Falls, and lastly into Puerto Varas for lunch and independent exploration.

This area is the northern part of Chilean Patagonia, and is incredibly lush. Here there is the same kind of evergreen forest found in British Columbia and in New Zealand, made possible by 260-280 days a year of rain. We were incredibly lucky to have a sunny day! On the other side of the Andes, In Argentina, lies the very dry Patagonian Desert.

The Osorno volcano is considered one of the most active volcanoes of the Chilean Andes, but the last eruption was way back in 1869, so we’re certainly in no imminent danger visiting it – it is currently classified as “dormant”. Those younger, fitter, and braver than we are can hire a local guide and climb from the Bubble Crater (our destination, which is also the ski centre) to the top, using crampons and ice-hiking gear.

The top of the volcano is covered in snow and glacial ice, but note the left hand side of the volcano’s peak. The area that now appears black used to be consistently white, but over the last 20 years climate change is melting the glaciers at a faster than normal rate.

Despite being sunny at sea level, once we reached The Bubble we were shrouded inside a cloud. Sadly, no panoramic views from there. We were, however, able to see the ground, which is a mixture of volcanic ash, pumice, and basalt.

Leaving the Osorno volcano down steep switchback roads, still in the cloud, we emerged into brilliant sunshine just in time to see the Petrohué Valley below.

What an absolutely perfect day to be at Petrohué Falls and rapids.

The walkway and short trail to Petrohué Falls was busy with tourists, since this is summer vacation time in Chile, but we still had plenty of opportunity for photos. We’d been told that the waters here were emerald green, due to being glacial runoff, but were nonetheless amazed by their brilliant colour.

After our stop at the falls, we headed for Yankee Way Lodge, a clever play on Llanquihue (pronounced Jang-kee-way) lake’s name by the American owner of this fishing resort. There we were greeted with Pisco Sours, Chile’s national drink, followed by a lunch of pumpkin soup, Chilean salmon, Chilean wines, and a dessert featuring berry and mango coulis with a panna cotta style pudding. This part of Chile is famous for coho, chinook and Atlantic (farmed) salmon, as well as brown and rainbow trout and hake. The climate is also perfect for growing berries, so the meal featured all the best produce of the region. The next time I buy Chilean blueberries in a Canadian grocery store, I’ll be reminded of today.

Before heading back to our ship, we had some free time in Puerto Varas, the “city of roses” on the southwest shore of Lake Llanquihue, where German heritage is still evident in the traditional red-roofed wooden architecture and prevalence of Alpine-style A-frame houses. Here amid forested hills, sparkling lakes, and within sight of the snowcapped Andes, it is easy to imagine you’re in Europe instead of South America.

When we arrived back at the dock, we were greeted by music, Pisco Sour shots, and our stateroom stewards out on the pier to welcome us back. It was a real treat to see “our” Albert off the ship, if only for a few minutes, since the crew has not been allowed to leave the ship since signing on for their contracts, due to Covid protocols.

Although we really weren’t hungry after our late lunch, we had reservations with another couple at the Chef’s Table, and were looking forward to our social time together, so we headed down for dinner as planned. None of us really did justice to the food though.

Tonight’s theme was Gastronomy Through The Ages, with courses designed to take us from Roman times through to the 21st century.

After dinner, we heard that one of the day’s other big excursions, to Emerald Lake, had run into a snag. Because it had taken longer than expected to dock this morning, the morning lake cruise portion of that excursion couldn’t happen (the boats involved wouldn’t have been able to operate their afternoon cruises). The rest of the day – visiting the falls, lunch, and touring Puerto Varas, went on as planned. Viking, ever cognizant of making passengers’ experiences perfect, refunded everyone not 50%, but 100% of the excursion price! They continue to impress us with their customer service every day.

We have 2 sea days coming up before we reach Punta Arenas (and penguins!!!) on February 7th. En route, we’ll be cruising past the Amalia Glacier. I’m looking forward to that experience, and Ted’s photos.