Buckskin Lily's Amazing, Fantastic Blog: South American Odyssey: Chile

Greetings, readers! (All two of you!) After Argentina, the grand South American cruise continued on to Chile. Our first port of call in that long, skinny country was Punta Arenas which we visited on March 1st. The weather continued cold and rainy, but that didn't dampen our spirits. After disembarking the ship, we decided to walk to the Salesian Museum. We spend an hour or so looking at the exhibits which seemed to me like a collection of various priests' taxidermy and rock collections! LOL! (You've never seen such moth-eaten animal mounts in your life! The poor things!) Anyway, after we left the museum, we stopped at a little cafe that had caught Noah's eye (roasting chickens & racks of ribs in the window). He ordered an empanada, and I ordered an avocado and tomato sandwich (I'd been going through avocado withdrawls for awhile as there were no avocados on the ship!) I was expecting something along the lines of a small Subway sandwich, but this is what I got instead!! It was actually quite delicious (the tomatoes were vine-ripe and incredibly tasty, especially compared to the nearly-green tomatoes we'd been eating on the ship). I ended up eating 3/4ths of it. YUM!!

Buckskin's gigantic Chilean sandwich

The rest of that port stop involved wandering the streets, looking into shops, and going to the super market to buy strawberries and avocados to take back on board with me.

The next day, March 2nd, was spent cruising through the many channels that make up the southernmost parts of South America. Around 5:00 p.m. we cruised past the Amalia Glacier. Here is a photo of it taken from our cabin's balcony.

Amalia Glacier, Chile

Next stop was Puerto Chacabuco, Chile on March 4th. Here we hopped onto an independent tour with a few other passengers and took what we now refer to as the bridges and waterfalls tour. First stop was the Puente Aysén which the guide compared to The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (though it did have a few less spans!)

Puente Aysén

From there, we visited our first waterfall, the Cascada La Virgen, complete with a shrine to the Virgin Mary.

Buckskin at Cascada La Virgen

Buckskin at shrine to the Virgin Mary

We were then taken on a long drive to the city of Coyhaique where we stopped at the Puente Piedra del Indio over the Río Simpson. The bridge is very narrow and only one car is allowed to cross it at a time. A rock formation over the river looks like the face of an Indian & that's how the bridge got its name. You can see the formation above my head in this first photo, and better in the close up in the second photo.

Buckskin on the Puente Piedra del Indio in Coyhaique, Chile

Face of the Indian

After that, we were taken to the center of Coyhaique and given about 20 minutes to browse the craft fair. However, Noah was hungry and wanted an empanada, so I asked the driver for a recommendation. He walked us a few blocks to a place called the Casino de Bomberos which turned out to be a tiny cafe tucked behind the local fire station. It was packed with people, and we purchased two empanadas to go. They were amazing! We munched as we walked, and by the time we got back to the van, we had a parade of street dogs following us hoping for a bite to eat!

Back in the van, we commenced our long drive back to port with a stop at Bridal Veil Falls for a look at one more waterfall. It was a slippery, muddy hike up to the falls, but well worth it. This waterfall reminded me of Victoria Falls in Glacier National Park in Montana. And just like our visit to that waterfall, Noah made me pose with it. Of course there was tons of spray, combined with a good stiff wind which ensured I was soaking wet by the time we got finished. But we did get a good photo!!

Bridal Veil Falls

Buckskin takes a shower in Bridal Veil Falls

Back in port, we took a quick look into the craft fair where I bought a cute amagurimi doll from a lady & then it was back on-board to to dry off & warm up!

The following day, March 5th, we arrived at Puerto Montt. Noah said he wasn't up for another long day being driven around in a van or taxi, so we opted to wander the city looking at the sights. As we'd done in Punta Arenas, we found a supermarket and purchased some more avocados and a jar of Chilean honey. We spent a good deal of time walking the streets in the city center. I bought some wonderful strawberries from a street vendor and Noah had a middling empanada at a bar, so I could use their restroom. We ended up having lunch at this charming restaurant we discovered up an alley in the fish market. The proprietress fried us a delicious merluza (hake) fish filet which was served with mashed potatoes and some very tasty bread. It was more than enough for two!

Cocineria Quinllen

Noah with our merluza lunch

Next port was San Antonio, still in Chile, and again, we decided to just wander around town. Here we walked along the boardwalk where we saw a group of sea lions lounging on the sand. However, as soon as we spotted them, a pack of street dogs chased them into the water! Bad doggies! Next we visited the mall, then walked along the city's two main streets. As it was getting hot & I wasn't feeling my best, we wound things up early and headed back to the ship.

Buckskin at San Antonio, Chile

Our final stop in Chile was the port of Coquimbo which we visited on March 8th. I had been up half the night with a very bad stomach (the ship food was really taking it's toll on my digestive system!) But by the afternoon, I'd rallied enough to head out with Noah to explore the dock area which included both a fish and craft market. We purchased some alpaca hoodies (one for me & one for a friend), and moseyed through the fish market where they were selling some amazing-looking ceviches. And where a woman tried to pick Noah's pocket! It was a fail!

Coquimbo fish market

Coquimbo fish market 2

We met some very smart critters that day, too. A happy street dog who was playing in the water with some kids, and an intrepid kitty who lived in the fish market.

Dog & pirate ship at Coquimbo

Scratchy's brother at fish market in Coquimbo, Chile

As we were heading back to the ship, we stopped to listen to this gentleman playing the pan flute. Back on board our ship sailed for Peru, ending our time in Chile.