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In Puerto Montt I dropped my bag at the friendly Gallardo homestay, and joined the public celebrations that were being held for some reason that I have forgotten now.
The following day I confirmed my berth on the ferry Puerto Eden going south the week later and backtracked north to Lake Llanquihue to visit the two charming towns of Puerto Varas and Frutillar which were settled by German immigrants. In the background looms Volcán Osorno that was hidden in the clouds when I passed close to its base the day before.
By the weather was nice again. I had been unlucky to do the cruise over the glacial lakes on a stormy day. I accepted my disappointment because that bit of bad luck was just the exception that confirmed my usual exceptionally good luck.
Puerto Montt was nice but not interesting enough to hold me so I decided to visit the island of Chiloe.
Pargua, 55 km south of Puerto Montt is the place to take the ferry to Chacao on Chiloé.
I went directly to Castro, the regional capital in the center of the island, where I stayed overnight. I found that Chiloé looked a lot like Nova Scotia with small fishing villages dispersed along the bays of a convoluted shore.
That evening, I found my way to the restaurant Palafito, not far from here by the seashore, where I indulged in an unforgettable dinner accompanied by an excellent white Chilean wine, sea urchins followed by a huge plate of "Curanto" which I was unable to finish (a heap of mussels, clams and cockles to which had been added pork, chicken and smoked sausages).
Ancud, on the northern tip of the island is the second-largest town.
It is this small schooner "Ancud" that sailed to the Straits of Magellan to claim the Patagonian Peninsula for Chile in 1843.
The fishing is still good off the coast of Chile. Watching them unload their fish brought to my mind similar images of bountiful catches being unloaded on the east coast of Canada forty years ago when the cod fishery had not yet been depleted by over fishing (And by unduly protected seals whose numbers are soaring!).
Finally, the time came to board the ferry for the three-day cruise through the fjords down to Puerto Natales. The Navimag Shipping Line's port of call was in the Angelmo fishing port next to Puerto Montt where these unique shacks shelter a shop at the ground level and living quarters above.
The Puerto Eden is a large ferry boat primarily for trucks moving supplies to Patagonia. It can also carry 50 cars and accomodate 167 passengers.
I shared a cabin with a French girl, Sylvie Garnier and a Norwegian couple, Harald Ebeling and Britta Srevert sitting on the lower bunks on the left below. It was much more comfortable than the third class dormitories that held 40 people in the three tiered bunks you can see on the right.
The sky was covered but the scenery was beautiful anyway.
There are few places as isolated as the small fishing village of Puerto Eden, about 800 km south of Puerto Montt and 400 km north of Puerto Natales. The ferry of the same name is the only way in or out of this place where the last descendants of an old Patagonia tribe, the Alcalufes, still survive.
The run through the fjords is impressive even in this bad weather.
After three days and a few hours we reach our destination, Puerto Natales at a latitude of 52 degrees south, which is already much further south than Capetown (34) and than the southern tip of New Zealand (47).
The Puerto Eden is the lifeline of austral Chile.
There is not much to see in Puerto Natales itself but it is the doorway to the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine which is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in the world so far.
The weather was perfect when I visited the park. It was a real treat.
Behind me is the Paine Cascade on the Paine River and behind that is the Monte Almirante (2670 m) on the left and the Torres del Paine (2800 m) in the distance.
Here you see Monte Almirante and the Torres perfectly reflected in the mirror-like Laguna de Cisnes.
Further to the southwest lies the tranquil Lago Pehoe across which you can enjoy the view of Los Cuernos de Paine (2600 m), on the right and of Cerro Paine Grande (3050 m), on the left.
Cerro Paine Grande (3050 m) viewed from Lago Pehue near the Hosteria Pehoe on the left.
Here is another view of the Cuernos de Paine (2600 m), across Lake Pehoe. Unfortunately, my poor photos do not do justice to the incredibly beautiful 300 metre band of flesh coloured rock between the dark bases and tops of these peaks. It was just breathtaking!
The park was also a faunic reserve where protected species like these Guanacos, of the Llama family, got used to seeing humans.
The three hour bus trip from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas passed quickly as I met an accountant who was a valuable source of information on the economy of this region. Among other things, he explained that the grasslands of Patagonia were so poor that they could support only every low animal densities but that the "estancias" were of such enormous size (several thousand square kilometres), that the landed gentry did do well indeed. One of his clients was making a quarter of a million dollars a year after expenses!
If you look carefully at this picture you might be able to distinguish three Nandus, of the ostrich family, scampering away.
I spent several days in Punta Arenas (Sandy Point), but the only pictures I took were of some amusing penguins in a nearby faunic reserve.
Bernardo O'Higgins claimed Patagonia as soon as Chile became independent but nothing concrete was done about it until 1843 when president Manuel Bulnes sent the schooner Ancud to physically stake Chile's claim.
Fort Bulnes was established on the north shore of the Straits of Magellan on a rise controlling its western outlet and five years later, the town of Punta Arenas was founded 60 km north, closer to the half-way mark through the straits.
Chile initially claimed all of Patagonia but ended up by sharing it as well as the island of Tierra del Fuego, with Argentina.
