There is a 4 day (well its really 3 day) ferry trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt that runs up and down thru the archipaelago of southern chile. We decided to use this option to head back up north as its quite economical and much better then the 40-50 hour bus journey (I guess we could have flown as well but the ferry sounded much more fun and value for bucks). At this stage we are both allergic to bus journeys altho we haven´t done that many lately its just head wrecking.
Went on board on thurs evening. Had booked the more expensive option of a 4 bed cabin rather then the dorm option which turned out to be great as we had it to ourselves as the ferry was only half full. The dorms looked ok as well but not much privacy plus we got our own bathroom.
The first night we slept on board and the ferry left port at 6am. We woke up early to see the ferry navigate thru the narrowest passage of the journey - its 80m wide (the ferry is probably 40m wide) so not much room for error here. Quite a spectacular sunrise and scenery - we saw some dolphins alongside the boat as well which was a great start to the trip. After an hour or so the weather turned to mush and it was cold, wet and very poor visibility. Good day for relaxing with a book. We did stop at Glacier Skua which would have been amazing if we could have seen more then 50m higher up the glacier. The trip that day was mostly thru narrow passages between islands so very protected from the sea and nice and gentle. We could also wander onto the bridge anytime we felt like it to check out the maps, navigation equipment, chat with the guys running the show, etc so that was pretty interesting.
On the second morning the ship stopped at Puerto Eden where a flotilla of little red and yellow fishing boats came down and ferried us over to the little village of Puerto Eden. Its a tiny settlement (180 inhabitants) who live in the this incredibly remote area miles from the nearest centre of civilisation. Mostly they live off fishing and the ferry is obliged to stop there twice a week to drop in supplies, pick up passengers, etc. There´s the last survivors of the Kaweshkar tribe live here as well. Its all little wooden board walks (similar to Caleta Tortel but on a much smaller scale) and little brightly painted wooden houses with mandatory satellite dish. Must be absolutely miserable there in the winter. From there we headed north thru the English Narrows and then thru Falso Channel out into the open ocean. We saw the Cotopaxi shipwreck which is where is 1968 a Greek capitan decided to make a quick buck from the insurance company. He ran his ship onto an infamous rock spike which is 2m below the surface on a broad channel. Unfortunately, the ship didn´t sink but is just stuck on the rock and the insurance inspectors were able to figure out that his cargo of sugar hadn´t melted as he had tried to claim (he had previously sold the sugar in Uruguay) as where were all the sugar bags. Dumb guy went to jail for 2 years and the ship remained stuck where its now used as a lighthouse and birds like to land there too. The scenery of untouched forested islands and mountains was incredible. We hit the open sea that afternoon and there was a moderate swell. We ended up taking seasickness tablets altho not sure if they worked with a placebo effect or actually did work! Dinner was an interesting experience keeping your plate on the table and trying not to fall off your chair. One bloke landed on top of Dunk after a particularly big dip - luckily it was post dinner so Dunk didn´t end up wearing spaghetti!! It was really good to lie down that night and the seasickness tablets complelty knocked us out so a good snooze was had.
Day 3 started with a lovely sunrise turning into a clear and beautiful sailing up thru the Chacabuco Channel having left the open sea behind. Spent most of the day out on the top deck
enjoying the sun and gentle sailing. Spotted a few whale spouts later in the day but they never got close enough to us to actually see the whales. Saw heaps of seals, some penguins too and lots of large seabirds (probably some kind of albatross). At the end of the day there was a spectacular sunset over the sea and onto the snow capped mountains on the coast as we sailed up towards Chiloe Island and the main land. Really beautiful and tranquil. To top it off a few black and white dolhpins cruised by the ferry for a few minutes doing a few little jumps out of the water to the delight of everyone. After dinner was live entertainment by one of the ships crew - quite funny - followed by the world´s worst disco ... how is it that ferries, cruises etc manage to have such terrible music. Lots of Chilean pop music which is like a bad mix of hip hop, pop, and something traditional thrown in on top .. bloody awful.
Day 4 is really a no day where we just had breakfast and then disembarked at Puerto Montt. We quickly headed to the bus station and booked the first available bus out to Bariloche as we know from previous experience that PM is a pretty dingy place to hang around. In fairness, even in the ship´s briefing they advise you to leave town asap.
All up a very pleasant, scenic and relaxing few days. The food on board was ok - like canteen food really and the usual generous dose of bland, dry chilean bread (god I hate that stuff now). Our room was great and really clean and comfy as were the bathroom facilities, the staff were friendly and helpful (especially the kitchen lady who helped everyone with their dinner tray as the boat rolled from side to side on the open seas - she was amazing) and the people on board were an interesting, lovely mix (aside from the pain in the ass old australian fella who was lucky not to get thrown overboard - he annoyed everyone we met!!) so we spent a lot of time trading stories and chatting. We probably would have cracked up if we had to spend another day on board (we´re definitly not cruise boat material). Also there was a trailer load of sheep and one of horses in the cargo hold which stank more and more as each day passed. I dont know if they fed/watered these animals but didn´t seem to be the most humane conditions plus the smell was rank (and I am used to farm smells) which was non too pleasant especially on the high seas of the open ocean.
Off to Bariloche now to go hiking again. Think the bodies have recovered and will be keen to stretch our legs again now.
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