Day 28 6th February 2011

Tender alongside the Aurora

Chilean Horsemen

Dancer failing to teach me to polka

We arrived in Puerto Montt during the night. It is an important port in Southern Chile. Unfortunately the Aurora is too large to dock in the port and must anchor in the bay that the port occupies. This means that you need to be tendered into the port using the ship boats. We were going on a trip to a Chilean horse ranch so we had to meet at 7.45am this morning and we were escorted to the boats. This involves Chris being taken in a lift to deck 3 and then wheeled to the floating pontoon alongside the ship. She then needed to be helped onto the boat which of course is moving up and down with the waves. It was not difficult to board the boat. The trip into the port was quite short but due to the wind it was bouncy. At the port we had to traverse a steep gangway but we were helped by the ship’s entertainment director. The coach to take us on our trip was waiting and we were the first passengers to arrive.

Although it is summer here it was cold with overcast skies but the guide told us that it would get better during the afternoon and she was proved correct. The area is dominated by two snow capped volcanoes that resemble Mount Fuji in Japan. They have both been active in recorded times. Our first stop was Puerto Vayas, a holiday town near a very large fresh water lake. It was Sunday so the town was quite quiet and we visited a local market where we bought a variety of woollen goods. Unlike Argentina the prices are reasonable. We though Argentina was expensive. There are 500 Chilean pesos to the dollar but everyone accepts dollars.

We left the town and travelled the short distance to the ranch. We were welcomed with singing, dancing and a band along with wine and hot food. They explain what we are going to see and we had the chance to see the horses and their riders. They have amazing control over their horses. They wear ponchos, leather chaps and enormous spurs. When they dismount they have difficulty walking. The ranch breeds horses and the owner explained how it works.

We were treated to a Chilean rodeo which is all about pairs of riders being able to control a bull while riding at a gallop. The ranch had a full sized rodeo ring and we were seated above it with excellent views of the action. Between events we were serenaded by the band and watched more folk dancing. They also provided more hot food such as crab cakes and kebab type meats along with the nation drink of pisco sours. The drink unlike many other national ones was very good and the food delicious. After the rodeo and the singing we had lunch which was barbequed beef (as much as you could eat) accompanied by Chilean wine. It was excellent.   It was a delightful day.

Tomorrow we have a day at sea cruising up the coast.