Petersontravels

After departing Punta Arenas our ship spent two days cruising the Chilean fjords.  While these fjords are pretty, they are nothing compared to the Norwegian fjords.  Regardless, there were some interesting spots along the way.  As I was watching the scenery go by I spotted this shipwreck.

This is the wreck of the SS Santa Leonor, which ran aground in 1968.  It started it’s life in 1944 as the USS Riverside, a US Navy Transport ship that served briefly at the end of WWII.   The ship transported reinforcements to Okinawa, arriving just two days before the war ended.   After the war the ship was decommissioned and sold to a Chilean company to transport cargo.  I was surprised that the bridge crew didn’t get on the PA and let everybody know about the wreck!

That first sea day it pretty much rained the entire time, but at least there is a positive to that rain.

The second day was cloudy and cool, but clear enough to produce some nice views.

I was impressed with how extensive the fjords are along the coast of Chile.  They definitely allowed us to avoid any rough seas.

There were literally a thousand waterfalls along the way.

Yet another incredible rainbow!

The sunset on our final night was excellent!

This is the view from the ships tender of the small fishing town of Puerto Chacabuco, which really has nothing to see, but is an excellent starting point for excursions.

We had a bit of a confusing time trying to find our guide in this port, and I wouldn’t recommend them at all, so I won’t mention them here.  We boarded the crowded van and our first stop was about a half hour away, Cascada La Virgen, a pretty decent waterfall.

Decent enough that we had to get a photo to prove we were there.

We had another stop to view the Simpson River, which is apparently a fly fisherman’s paradise  The sun came out just in time.

This is a view of our next destination, the largest city in the area, Coyhaique.

We stopped in Coyhaique for about 45 minutes, so not really enough time to have lunch or do any serious shopping (the major downside of the tour I selected).  I did take 15 minutes to walk to the best wine store in town!

I asked the owner for his best 4 bottles of Carmenere, what has become my favorite Chilean wine (think Pinot Noir with the heft of a Zinfandel).  I was shocked at the prices!  First up, an $11 bottle, followed by an $8, another $11 and finally the best he had at $20.  Breaking the bank!  I told him I wanted to move here!

There are excellent views of the surrounding mountains just as you exit the city.

Another part of our tour was going to our tour guides house to have German cake and coffee.  This was NOT in the description that I read.  Pretty odd, so no photos or further mention required.  Our last stop was this bridge over the Simpson River, that mimics a bridge I’ve seen elsewhere?

Selfie time!

One more shot of the cool miniature Golden Gate.  The skies were definitely threatening!

Before we left this spot the sun popped out and created an excellent photo op.

As we departed Puerto Chacabuco we once again saw plenty of glacier fed waterfalls along the fjord.

As well as the best rainbow I think we have ever seen!

Coming up next we visit Castro, a city on Chiloe Island amongst the Chilean fjords.

We made it into a port!  Yay!  We have been on the ship since the Falkland Islands, 6 full days!  The last time I’ve been at sea that long was 1986, when I spent 35 days at sea in the Navy!  Ok, 6 days was a lot easier to deal with, particularly when the food is WAY better, and I didn’t have to work 20 hours a day!  Trust me, the Navy is rough, at least back then it was.

We didn’t have an excursion here since outside of the city there really isn’t that much to see, so we braved the “do you want a tour?” folks just outside the terminal and walked into town.  The first spot that got our attention was this statue of a dude pointing towards our ship.  This is Bernardo O’Higgins, one of the founding fathers of Chile who was instrumental in freeing Chile from Spain in the early 1800’s.

We then came upon the most visited site in Punta Arenas, Plaza de Armas.  This statue of Ferdinand Magellan, commemorating his discovery of the strait of Magellan in 1520,  is definitely the most photographed spot in the city.

This monument was unveiled in 1920 on the 400th anniversary of Magellan’s discovery.  On the other side of the statue is this indigenous person with a dangling foot that has a bit of folklore.  As can be seen by the highly polished foot, if you touch this you are guaranteed to come back to Punta Arenas.  I don’t get it, the spot is nice and all, but would I want to come back?  We opted out of touching the foot.  Let me say, it was hard to get a shot without somebody gleefully starting at the camera while touching it!!

These huge trees encircle Plaza de Armas.  It is a gorgeous spot.

Directly across the street from the plaza is the Cathedral of Punta Arenas, this pretty little church.

We loved the colors of this church, particularly the ceiling.

As well as the mosaic of Jesus Christ above the altar.  Love the colors!

Across the street Kim and Julie found this King Penguin and her baby looking for attention!  I can’t believe they put a chain around the poor mama!!  Would somebody actually steal this?

We then started making our way up the street to Mirador Cerro de la Cruz, a viewpoint looking over the city.  On the way I noted more excellent electrician work that must be recorded for posterity!  WTF??

Here is the view from the top!

Our cruise ship is on the right, with a Regent Seven Seas ship on the left.

Looking back down the street towards the city center.  Note the church we just visited on the left side of the street.  It’s a pretty small city.

Kim, Julie and Tony at the viewpoint!  I’ve gotta say that Tony and Julie have been awesome to travel with!  This is our 3rd trip with them (Iceland, Canada/East Coast and now this trip).

If I see a compass rose somewhere I pretty much always take a photo!  For those that don’t know, west in Spanish is oeste.

Not too far away, on a somewhat hidden street, is this beautiful set of mosaic murals!  I only found this because I was scrolling on my phone while we were at the viewpoint.  This should be a top destination if you already made your way up the hill!  First up is Ferdinand Magellan’s ship in the strait.

Followed by this mosaic of sea life.  These are so cool, and they are in the middle of a rather distressed neighborhood.  This town is covered in graffitti, but at least they have the common decency to leave these works of art alone.

These would make an excellent series of t-shirts, or at the very least an awesome set of coasters!

We turned the corner and lo and behold, there are more!

This one was so colorful it had to be in the blog!

This one has a very angry dude at the bottom of the mosaic, which is some sort of uniformed officer?  Not sure, but he’s pissed about something.  Click on the photo, zoom in and then let me know your thoughts.  It was at least nice to see the American flag.

On our way back down the hill we passed these directional signs.  They even list Sacramento and Silicon Valley, a mere 11,000 or so km away.

We stopped for lunch at this excellent little restaurant near the viewpoint called La Yegua Loca, which I had noted was #1 on Trip Advisor when I was thinking about eating dinner in town.  Lunch will do though!  The food was excellent, so make a point of having lunch here!  The view is also quite good.

From here we walked to a supermarket in hopes of finding the local beer I had at lunch, Austral Yagan Dark Ale.  They had every other beer of theirs but this one.  Damn.  We then walked to the waterfront along Magellan Strait.  This sculpture is a monument to Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe.

Further along the waterfront is this monument to the crew of the schooner Ancud.  The Ancud and her 23 crew members sailed into the Strait of Magellan in 1843, claiming it for Chile.

Pretty cool statue!  Here is the view of the port side.

These city signs are in every port!  It was surprising to not have 20 people posing around it!

This ghostly relic of a pier makes for a nice photo.

It also provides a safe spot for the birds to hang out!

One last statue along the shoreline before we headed back onboard the ship.  This is a monument to Chilean naval pilot Luis Pardo, who led the heroic 1916 rescue of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s crew from Elephant Island in Antarctica after their ship was lost in the ice.  The actual bow section of the rescue vessel “Yelcho” is featured in the monument, along with a statue of Pardo pointing towards Antarctica.

That night we were treated to an excellent sunset!

That just kept getting better and better!!

Coming up next, we spend two more days at sea before visiting Puerto Chacabuco, Chile.