Puerto Chacabuco, Chile

            Tuesday, 26 Dec 2023 – We were scheduled to anchor off the coast of Puerto Chacabuco at 8:00 PM.  Puerto Chacabuco is the main port of the region, and had become so after great burnings of the Patagonian forests and the eruption of Mount Hudson volcano in 1991 had caused ashes and earth erosion that had decreased the navigability of Aisén River.  The port had been moved further to the coast where Puerto Chacabuco now stands.

Puerto Chacabuco is named after the small warship Chacabuco with which Enrique Simpson explored the fjords and archipelagoes of that region in the 1870s.  The ship is in turn named after the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817 during the Chilean Independence War.

We enjoyed our usual breakfast in the Terrace Café.  We talked with Ossman, a waiter from Honduras that we had met on the 2019 and 2020 cruises.  We asked him what had happened to the ship’s crew after we disembarked the Oceania Insignia in March 2020.  He said he sailed for six months longer, during performing maintenance.  The crew ate well and were even allowed to use the pool.  During this time, he was moved around to other ships also.  So, the experience wasn’t bad, but after six months, he was really ready to go home!

We had booked an excursion for the port, Highlights of Chacabuco & Surroundings, and were scheduled to meet ashore at 3:00 PM.  We boarded a ship’s tender at 2:30 PM, which was much smaller than usual and held only about 80 passengers.  Upon arrival at the port terminal, our bags were x-rayed before we were allowed to proceed ashore.  Then we had to wait for about 30 minutes for our tour bus to arrive.  We found Sally a seat, but Jesse stood most of the time.  Sally conversed with the woman sitting next to her quite a bit.

Our tour guide was Daniel.  The bus was not airconditioned, and with the sun shining in, it was rather warm.  Sally had worn long sleeves, so she was a little uncomfortable.  As we road into the wild, rugged Aysén landscape and discovered an unspoiled Patagonian frontier, Daniel told the history of the area.  The scenery was awesome; mostly high snow-covered mountains, behind closer wooded ones.  A bad fire that lasted two years destroyed the area’s forest, and was followed by a volcano in 1991.  But the area was re-forested and developed.

We made our way to Rio Simpson National Reserve and stopped at the Visitor Center to learn more about the trees, plants and wildlife that live in the area.  The center had a small museum and a movie theater, but the captions were all in Spanish.  We found it all mildly interesting.  We were given the opportunity to take a brief walk down to the river to photograph this exceptional place, but we declined.  Our return journey wound back through the small village of Puerto Aysén.  We were tired when we got back to the ship.  It had warmed up quite a bit and passengers were swimming in the pool.

We were too late for dancing, so we went directly to the Terrace Café for dinner.  Tonight was a Chef’s Market dinner buffet, so lobster was not on the menu.  We enjoyed Riesling wine with dinner again.  Afterwards, Sally finished reading her Allies book.