Strait of Magellan: Punta Arenas

After leaving Puerto Chacabuco, our cruise ship  set sail to Punta Arenas via the Strait of Magellan, a sea route first entered by Ferdinand Magellan on 1 November 1520. This year 2020 happens to be the 500th anniversary since his first entry to this waterway

Immediately as you enter the territory of Punta Arenas, a signboard confirms that you have indeed crossed the Strait of Magellan.

At Mirador Cerro de la Cruz, a great vintage point where we had a panoramic view of city of Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan.

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Literally, every visitor to Punta Arenas will be brought to see the statue of their icon, Ferdinand Magellan, located at the lovely town square. Magellan is cast in bronze is depicted as the explorer standing on the bow of a ship looking ahead. Two bronze figures rest below. They represent the Ona and Tehueiche indigenous Patagonian people, one of them has a very shiny foot. Story has it that a sailor from Spain was sent here and he immediately fell in love with the place and hoped to come back. It was said that he rubbed the foot of one of the figures hoping to return. Since then, rubbing the foot is a wish to come back, some say for good luck, yet some for calm seas. Whatever is the intention, it's now common to see visitors rubbing the foot before leaving. We too held the foot and posed for a good shot for remembrance!

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The Museum of Remembrance or Museum of Memory spread over a huge lawn is a collection of replica houses of the first colonists, buildings, carriages, carts, locomotives, farming tools and machinery dating back to the time of the pioneers. The over 3,000 items on display both outdoor and indoor allow us to have  a good idea of the history and technology of this region in those days.

Rio Simpson National Reserve, Chile

The cruise from Puerto Montt to Puerto Chacabuco is part of the routes of what is called Patagonian Cruise or Chilean Fjords Cruise.

The Rio Simpson National Reserve which is in between Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Coyhaique boasts some of the most beautiful landscape in Patagonia.

Puerto Aisen which is 9 Km upstream of Puerto Chacabuco was once the main port in the Aisen Fjords. Over the years, the waterway however was rendered less navigable as a result of silting by ashes from the great burnings of the Patagonian forests and soil erosion. The port was moved further to the coast where Puerto Chacabuco now stands for better navigation. According to the local guide, the forest burning took years to finally die off because fire burnt deep into the peat soil and dry roots deep below the ground.

Burning of forests to create pasture lands and crop lands is a traditional practice but has since been outlawed in many parts of the world. Still, this practice persists. The recent massive Brazilian fires in August 2019 were said to be human-lid with the intention to create cattle ranges and farm lands.

According to the local guide, Rio Simpson Reserve was once virgin jungle grown with massive huge trees. After the fires, much of the areas is scrublands and grasslands. It will take years before the replanted trees become Giants!

The mountainous Rio Simpson National Reserve
has many snow-covered ridges and peaks.

Virgin Falls along Puerto Chacabuco - Coyhaique Road.

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Have we been to Coyhaique? We did, for just 30 minutes, barely enough time to pick up a cup of coffee and to look at souvenirs and stuff at some of the little stores targeting tourists!

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Snow-capped mountains clearly visible from our cruise ship berthed at Puerto Chacabuco.

Puerto Varas, Chile

The first ports call after the departure of the cruise ship from San Antonio is Puerto Montt. Puerto Montt is the gateway to a region called Patagonia, a region at the southern end of the South American continent comprising the southern territories of both Chile and Argentina.

Puerto Montt and the nearby area has significant Chileans of German descent. These people are the descendants of  Germans brought in under state-led immigration to populate and to develop this area in the mid-19th century.

We didn't spend much time in Puerto Montt but went straight to another nearby town, Puerto Varas which is 22 Km north.

Map captured from cruise ship TV.

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Puerto Varas is often being referred to as a German town in Chile. It is famed as a picturesque small city by the shore of Lake Llanhuique. Its beauty is amplified by the towering snow-capped active Osono Volcano at the far end of the lake and this has become the iconic scene of this town.

Unfortunately, it was a cloudy morning during our visit.
The faint profile of Osorno Volcano was hardly
noticeable through the frame .

Puerto Varas is a fusion of German and Chilean culture. The architecture is evident of the influence of its past German "colonization". Many buildings which are made of timber with shingles distinguish them as of German architecture.

Shingles commonly used for building construction.

We were fascinated by the street vendors selling an array of local fruits and smoked mussels and clams. The ladies in our group went cuckoo when confronted with such abundance of cheap (even converted to Malaysia Ringgit) strawberry, raspberry, grapes and other exotic fruits!

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Being in a region once dubbed a German "colony", it was no surprise that we were taken to the German Colonial Museum of Fruitillar before we returned to the cruise ship.

This 3-hectare museum site within the township of Frutillar is located to the west of Lake Llanhuique, a 30-min drive from Puerto Varas which is at the south of Lake Llanhuique.  The museum is more liked a mini park and is modeled to showcase the lives of early German settlers. This mini park has a Bell Tower, Water Mill (under renovation at the time of our visit), Country House, Workshop of the Blacksmith and a landscaped Garden. Items on display are collected from homes of early German settlers.

Display in the Country House.

A typical house in Frutillar.

We had expected to see Osorno Volcano from the western shore of Lake Llanhyuque. Again, the thick cloud prevented us to have a distinct view.

Typical Osorno viewed from the shore at Frutillar.

Courtesy of Cristian Alcazar C's photo..