Navimag – Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales
March 2, 2010
Finally! The day arrives when we board our cargo ship, the Evangelista! Navimag is a cargo ship company that sails between Puerto Montt, and Puerto Natales. It’s a 4 day/3 night trip with no contact to the outside world. The ship itself really is a cargo ship. The main decks are filled with cars, trucks, shipping containers, and sometimes livestock. As we boarded it smelled significantly of livestock, however we didn’t see any… nor any visible remains of livestock. Up three flights of stairs we go to the cabins, and are they tiny! We opted to book a 4 person shared room, which is one step above the cheapest ticket you can buy. We figured it would be better to share space with two strangers rather than 36 strangers! The rooms were tiny, two bunks on each side, each with a storage locker and a key. There was just enough space between the bunks such that on person could stand, and their shoulders would almost touch the bunks on each side. Realistically, that means that only one person in the room can be up and moving about at any given time… which later made for some interesting mechanics.
The price of the ticket includes food, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but no alcoholic beverages. Of course, there is a bar on the ship which was almost always the focal meeting point for everyone. It also seems that most people brought their own drinks on board. Fortunately, we had two bottles of wine, and a bottle of Pisco for our drinking enjoyment. The first day on the boat we mostly just walked around taking pictures and meeting people here and there. It was interesting to find out where everyone was from, where they had been, and what their plans were. A surprisingly large percentage of the people we met were on multi-month trips similar to ours. We ended up having dinner with two guys I met talking about cameras. (they were both carrying almost identical equipment as we were…) Adolfo from Italy, and Graham was from New Zealand. Whoohoo, our first Navimag friends! The food was pretty good, cafeteria style, nothing fancy. After our meal, we were pretty tired so we headed to bed. We soon found out that a room in the dorms might have been a better option. With four people crammed into a small closet sized room, the temperature soon climbed to an unbearable humid terrarium. Finally one of the girls had the smarts to prop open our door to let some fresh air in.
The next morning after breakfast we were informed that there was an earthquake in Chile, but they captain was waiting for details and they had no specific information. No one seemed to really seem scared or upset about it, so we soon forgot about it, and continued on with looking at beautiful scenery go by. The weather for the trip was great… it was cold on the main decks with the wind, but out of the wind it was quite warm. Watching the sun go up and down with a bottle of wine and new friends made the day go by quickly. The next morning the captain had everyone gather in the bar to hear about the earthquake. When they announced the details, first in Spanish, then translated to English, the mood changed dramatically. We were told it was a 9.2 quake centered near Concepcion. It leveled the city, and sent tsunami warnings all the way to Hawaii and Japan. So, here we are, stuck on a boat not far from the epicenter with no way to contact the outside world and let them know we were happily drinking red wine, and local beers without a care in the world while completely out of harm’s way. Thankfully we had our SPOT gps device and tried to send out a signal every now and then… 
On the next to last day of the trip, the boat pulled up next to the PIO XI glacier… the largest non-arctic glacier in the world. Standing at 6km wide, and 120 meters tall, it was enormous. They sent out a small zodiac to go pick up some glacier ice to bring back to the boat for drinks. And after taking pictures, we celebrated with Glacier Pisco-cola’s. The final night on the boat was a big party, with Spanish Bingo, Karaoke, dancing, and lots of drinking. Our Navimag best friends, Jeremy & Sandra, Graham, and Adolfo didn’t win anything, but had fun trying. I probably drank a little too much, as later that night on my way back to our rooms, I mistakenly went into the wrong room only to find an older couple doing the naked tango. I’m not sure who was more embarrassed! Jenn also said I asked our roommates if they were lesbian, but evidently they weren’t, and didn’t seem to be offended when we talked to them next day. (whew!) We were a bit late getting into port to disembark, but the trip was well worth the money. We made some great friends (who you’ll hear more about soon) and had a wonderful time making our way to the southern part of Chile.
This is a view from the top deck of our ship, looking towards the mountains in Puerto Montt. You can see a volcano on the left, and the Andes mountain range on the right.
A cool shot looking down at the bow of the ship with workers moving about. I think at this point they were pulling the anchors in.
Setting on the deck looking out into the blue.
One of our stops was the small town of Puerto Eden. This tiny little village had absolutely nothing, except a pretty view of the water. They did have a post office, but it was Sunday, so we couldn’t sent any postcards. Bummer. There were tons of small fishing boats washed up on the shore… all with funny names like Titanic, Tuna, and Jenn’s favorite: Rambo!
This is one of the small boats which took us from the Navimag ship to the land for a small walking excursion. It was a good chance to get off the boat and stretch our legs for a bit.
A view from Port Eden, looking at all the washed up and beaten down boats. You can see our cargo ship in the background.
This is the PIO XI glacier! It’s absolutely massive. They say when the sun is out, you MUST wear sunscreen because of the triple effects of the sun. You get direct sun from the sky, sun reflected off the water, and sun reflected off the ice. Good thing it was a bit cloudy out, otherwise I’d be melted! Notice the birds in this picture… these are still about 1km away from the ice… the ice here is 120 meters tall! A person standing at the base of the glacier would not be visible from this distance.
Here is the little zodiac they sent out to fetch some ice for us!
And here is Jenn, waiting for the ice! It was pretty cool drinking glacier cooled drinks!
A great shot of our ship after it turned around and was heading away from the glacier. Yes, it really is a cargo ship!
A quick snap of us in front of the ice. Say “cheese”. Or, Ice Cream, or something funny in Spanish!
This is the sunset on the day we arrived in Puerto Natales. I didn’t take this picture, our friend Jeremy did. Thanks Jeremy! He’s the only one who had his camera handy when this moment struck. Pretty phenomenal eh?
Puerto Varas and Frutillar, Chile
February 25, 2010
After a fair amount of debate, Lucas and I decided to book a trip to Puerto Natales, through the Chilean fjords aboard Navimag. Navimag runs weekly cargo ships between the two port towns, and has one floor on board for tourists. For about $100/day per person, Lucas and I had our very own dorm bed, three cafeteria meals per day and a front row view of Patagonia. On the downside, the boat didn’t depart for almost a week so we were stuck in the Puerto Montt area until that time. Luckily, the gorgeous town of Puerto Varas and Frutillar were only an hour away.
Puerto Varas is a costal town on the shores of lake (llanquihue) “Yankee way”. Volcanos surround the lake on three sides and the views from downtown are just astounding. The town was settled by Germans back in 1850 or so, when the Chilean government gave them free land in order to entice them to move to the area and bring their good strong engineering with them. You can buy Kuchen and strudel in almost any cafe, and many of the locals have a real European look to them.
We took long walks along the lake, played 21 at the casino, traveled up to Volcan Osorno, viewed the Saltos Petrohue (waterfalls) and just basically relaxed. The taxi driver who took us to some of the sites was nice, but English obviously wasn’t his first language. At one point he took us to a restaurant and told us that, “All of the food was free”. Hmm, come again? I guess he meant, “All of the food was free for him” because we ate the buffet of chicken, steak, lamb, sausage, veggies, salad, fruit, flan, and Chilean Sea Bass… and then were given a bill for near $50 USD. The taxi driver’s meal was free, of course.
Lucas and I near the top of Volcan Osorno.
Saltos Petrohue with two volcanos in the back.
Downtown Puerto Varas – not many lakes with a prettier backdrop, huh?
The view across Lake Yankee Way towards another volcano.
We took a ride up Volcan Osorno as far as you could go via taxi, to a ski resort. It’s open during the summer too but the winds were so fierce and the lift went so slowly that we thought the view at the base of the resort was good enough for us.
The backyard of our spendy lunch joint. We took a little stroll here after dining to work off some of that good food.
Downtown Frutillar, another German town a 15 minute bus ride away from Puerto Varas had this gorgeous open area piano.
Ancud to Castro, Chile
February 21, 2010
We are way behind on blog posting, as we have been on the go pretty much non-stop with very little downtime. So, this one might be a bit short. We decided to visit the small island of Chiloe, south of Puerto Montt, based on a recommendation from our friend Ramon. We booked at a hostel called Nuevo Mundo or “new world”. Our first impression of Chiloe was the wind. Coming across the bay it picked up water and completely soaked everything in its path. Fortunately it soon cleared, and we were able to walk around the city to marvel at the architecture. The first thing Jenn noticed was all the unique housing tiles. There were so many different shapes and colors. We took pictured of so many that we could make a complete book on Chiloe building materials!
The food in Chile is wonderful, but we were really starting to miss variety… especially Asian food. I was dying for a noodle! So, we decided that we would cook our own dinners and try to get something new into our diet. Our trip to the grocery store didn’t help at all… there were no Asian choices to buy! So, even if we wanted something different, it was still going to be the Chilean staples… fish and seafood… but alas, we did find some ground beef and manage to make some delicious beef burritos! The avocado here is to die for. We have it at almost every meal.
In Castro, we tried to find all the magnificent churches. But, once we got there via bus, we found out that most of them are a significant distance away from the town center, and require hiring a car or doing a package tour. So, we were a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to photograph them. We did however see one beautiful church on the Plaza de Armas. It had huge ceilings and stained glass windows. Castro is probably more famous however, for the Palafitos… old houses built on stilts next to the water. Unfortunately for us, the tide was out, so there wasn’t any water for us to see… but, we did see how they are erected! Chiloe is a wonderful island.. and our 3 days spent there could have easily turned into a month. We didn’t make it to the south end, or even to the national park on the Island. But, what we did see was a nice taste… but alas we must move on to the next stop!
One of the places we walked to was an old fortress at the end of the island. I don’t remember the specific details, but I think it was the last stronghold to fall in the war. (which war? we’ll have to look it up later)
Looking through the fortress tower out towards the sea
Lucas, holding up the fort. Literally.
Standing as close as we could get to the Penguin colony without a boat.
If you look closely, there are actually penguins in this picture. Although, probably not visible at this resolution, there are hundreds of Magellenic penguins here at the colony. Unfortunately, the tides were wrong for us to go out and get closer. This ‘Penguinera’ is one the largest in the area.
Some strange birds with long beaks… they also make a stranger sound… not a chirp, not a click, not a hum… I think it’s something between a whistle and a cooing sound a baby would make.
Church & Architecture in Castro
A street musician were we had a yummy cheesy lunch. The dish was like a dip, but made with cheese and king crab. Tasty on bread! This place had maybe 10 different restaurants in a courtyard, and the musicians would come around and play for tips. They even played in the rain! There was a really old-school foosball table I wish I had taken a picture of. I’ve no idea how old it was, but it had been repaired many times… There was a long queue lined up to take their turn! I wanted to play, but didn’t want to wait in line!
After visiting the penguin colony, we were walking back towards the bus (2 hour walk) and a random guy picked us up. He suggested we have lunch at a place down the road, so he dropped us off and went to eat. While we were waiting, the shellfish delivery came in… It was two men on a boat, one in a full scuba outfit, delivering entire bags of shellfish. Each bag must have been 30 kilos or more.
This is where the ‘asado’ is made… a big iron tank cut in half and filled with wood. The wood is burned down into coals, and then huge chunks of meat are skewered and put in place to grill. This restaurant wasn’t huge… but there is probably 10 kilos of meat on each of those skewers… obviously the Chileans love their meat!
This is how “curanto” is prepared. A hole in the ground is dug, and filled with wood. Big rocks are put on top, and the entire thing is set on fire. Once the wood is burned down, the coals are removed, leaving the superheated rocks. All those shellfish from the previous picture are piled on top. Then, add chicken, sausage, dumplings, lamb, and about 5 other types of meat on top in layers. Then, cover the entire thing in some local grass, and steam away. 45 minute later, pull it all apart and enjoy the feast!
Jenn, taking a swing after our lunch! We also had a new dish here, called “locos”. We think it is Abalone, or possibly goeduck. It may be my new favorite seafood. It’s like a yummy muscle, only meatier and more steak like!
The main church on the Plaza de Armas in Castro.
Inside the church… The stained glass was beautiful… giving off a nice light
The famous Palafito houses in Castro. There are many places these are located around Castro… this one is easily viewed from across the water.
Puerto Montt, Chile
February 17, 2010
No where in the world have we seen a bus system as efficient as in Chile. The phrase, “you can’t get there from here” just isn’t applicable in this country. Our goal was to travel from Santa Cruz, a fairly small wine town to Puerto Montt, a bustling industrial town about twelve hours away. Sounds like a small feat for a bus system, right? You’d be wrong! We had a choice of busses to choose from each departing on the half hour – plus we had a choice of bus ‘classes’ available – from economy (no reclining seats) to semi-cama (partially reclining), to cama (full reclining beds with two meals, drinks and a steward). Nice! The price for the luxury treatment was a tad steep at $60USD pp, but still cheaper than traveling during the day and then getting a hostel at night.
We arrived in Puerto Montt at around 8 AM. The bus had been comfortable, but we were tired from our travels nevertheless, and now we had to trudge through town with all of our stuff and look for lodging. Apparently, life doesn’t start in Puerto Montt until about 11 AM. so our trudging was not particularly fruitful. All of the business we walked past – grocery stores, gas stations, and unfortunately hostels were closed and locked up. After persistent knocking at three dark hostels we finally found accommodations at Hostel Rocco. The room was clean, the bed was comfy and we settled into a three hour snooze.
Chileans love dogs and Hostel Rocco was no exception. They had a very friendly Labrador, and two dress wearing poodles. I enjoyed playing with the lap dogs and got a kick out of their matching dresses. Lucas swears we’ll never have such a silly pet – I think I’ll wear him down someday though!
Puerto Montt is well known for one thing: it’s seafood district, Angelmo. Here we tried the locally famous dish called Curanto. Lucas loves his Curanto, I think it mostly appeals to him because of the massive amount of food that the dish includes. Curanto is a mix of mussels, clams, chicken, sausage, ham/pork, potatoes, and dumplings all slow cooked on an earthen fire. It comes in a big bowl, with bread and a cup of broth. The broth is incredibly strong tasting, and salty, and used to dip your meaty bites into. You can find Curanto about everywhere in the region, some better than others. The mussels however seem to be a bit overcooked for my liking.
Angelmo – the bottom floor is a huge seafood and produce market, the top floor is a smattering of restaurants. Each window hosts a small mom & pop type seafood kitchen. This is where we tried Curanto for the 1st (and 3rd) time.
This is a typical street seen in Angelmo. The area sits on Puerto Montt’s harbor. Here we saw NaviMag, the cargo ship that later was to be our home for four days as we traveled through the Patagonia Channels.
The tide has a pretty big variance between high and low. Later this boat will be floating, no problem.
Jenn poses with a couple of local potato men. That’s their produce in those red bags there in the back.
Stained glass windows in the cathedral shown in the photo below. We’re just starting to experiment with HDR photography and this shot of the cathedral and the dog is one of our firsts. Yeah, or nay? There are dogs roaming all over the town of Chile. Apparently, Chileans take in purebred canines as pups, refrain from nurturing them on ‘principle’, and then when they get to be older dogs they send them out to find for themselves. Many times we’ve seen packs of these purebred strays parading through town. They never seem to get too hungry though. I suspect that the dogs have figured out how to best make eyes at tourists in order to beg off the occasional 1/2 an empanada.
Puerto Montt, Chile
February 17, 2010
No where in the world have we seen a bus system as efficient as in Chile. The phrase, “you can’t get there from here” just isn’t applicable in this country. Our goal was to travel from Santa Cruz, a fairly small wine town to Puerto Montt, a bustling industrial town about twelve hours away. Sounds like a small feat for a bus system, right? You’d be wrong! We had a choice of busses to choose from each departing on the half hour – plus we had a choice of bus ‘classes’ available – from economy (no reclining seats) to semi-cama (partially reclining), to cama (full reclining beds with two meals, drinks and a steward). Nice! The price for the luxury treatment was a tad steep at $60USD pp, but still cheaper than traveling during the day and then getting a hostel at night.
We arrived in Puerto Montt at around 8 AM. The bus had been comfortable, but we were tired from our travels nevertheless, and now we had to trudge through town with all of our stuff and look for lodging. Apparently, life doesn’t start in Puerto Montt until about 11 AM. so our trudging was not particularly fruitful. All of the business we walked past – grocery stores, gas stations, and unfortunately hostels were closed and locked up. After persistent knocking at three dark hostels we finally found accommodations at Hostel Rocco. The room was clean, the bed was comfy and we settled into a three hour snooze.
Chileans love dogs and Hostel Rocco was no exception. They had a very friendly Labrador, and two dress wearing poodles. I enjoyed playing with the lap dogs and got a kick out of their matching dresses. Lucas swears we’ll never have such a silly pet – I think I’ll wear him down someday though!
Puerto Montt is well known for one thing: it’s seafood district, Angelmo. Here we tried the locally famous dish called Curanto. Lucas loves his Curanto, I think it mostly appeals to him because of the massive amount of food that the dish includes. Curanto is a mix of mussels, clams, chicken, sausage, ham/pork, potatoes, and dumplings all slow cooked on an earthen fire. It comes in a big bowl, with bread and a cup of broth. The broth is incredibly strong tasting, and salty, and used to dip your meaty bites into. You can find Curanto about everywhere in the region, some better than others. The mussels however seem to be a bit overcooked for my liking.
Angelmo – the bottom floor is a huge seafood and produce market, the top floor is a smattering of restaurants. Each window hosts a small mom & pop type seafood kitchen. This is where we tried Curanto for the 1st (and 3rd) time.
This is a typical street seen in Angelmo. The area sits on Puerto Montt’s harbor. Here we saw NaviMag, the cargo ship that later was to be our home for four days as we traveled through the Patagonia Channels.
The tide has a pretty big variance between high and low. Later this boat will be floating, no problem.
Jenn poses with a couple of local potato men. That’s their produce in those red bags there in the back.
Stained glass windows in the cathedral shown in the photo below. We’re just starting to experiment with HDR photography and this shot of the cathedral and the dog is one of our firsts. Yeah, or nay? There are dogs roaming all over the town of Chile. Apparently, Chileans take in purebred canines as pups, refrain from nurturing them on ‘principle’, and then when they get to be older dogs they send them out to find for themselves. Many times we’ve seen packs of these purebred strays parading through town. They never seem to get too hungry though. I suspect that the dogs have figured out how to best make eyes at tourists in order to beg off the occasional 1/2 an empanada.
