Spring Moon of the Southern Cross
41 degrees 28 minutes S 72 degrees 56 minutes W
Puerto Mont, Chile the end of the Chilean lake district and the beginning of the fjords
If you’ve ever taken an overnight train, a cruise is similar. We leave a port in the afternoon and often, like the trip from Valparaiso to here, awake at a new destination.
This time the change is dramatic. Valparaiso hit 80+ while I took the funicular and walked the Plaza Sotomayor. Here the weather has a gray, wet presence and the predicted high is 59.
We have to tender in to Puerto Montt, meaning there is no dock space large enough for us, so we have anchored out in the bay, a very sheltered bay, closed in on three sides by hills and mountains. It’s also very green here, not the case while we traveled though the atacama desert and the semi-arid region around Coquimbo.
I have happily donned my rei breathable undershirt, flannel shirt and Ecuadorian alpaca sweater, blue and white and yellow and red with llamas across the chest. Layering clothing is a Minnesota art from not much appreciated by others, but this we know. If the weather warms up, I can remove clothing down to the rei undershirt. If it gets cooler, I can pull the Marmot rain wear/weather breaker out of the pack.
Today Kate and I go to a Chilean farm to experience a typical day there. The tour guide warns us that the owners dogs roam freely among visitors. Can’t wait.
On that note. We’ve met many dogs along the way. Some, like Tada in Peru, had distinctive personalities, but most, urban strays, seemed to have adapted to a life where people either ignore them or chastise them, so they don’t respond much to attention.
I can see some salmon farming from the ship. This industry crashed here four or five years ago when an illness killed off the salmon, a problem with acqua culture in general. It’s not easy to dispose of the waste, both from the fish and from left over food, creating a perfect environment for disease. I’ll be interested to learn if this leg of the area’s economy has bounced back
