Land Ho! -- Puerto Montt, Chile

We disembarked the ship and boarded the tender boats that took us to the Chilean town of Puerto Montt. If the name rings a bell, it is probably because you heard of it in the news months ago when a volcano erupted here. So of course, being in the town, we had to visit the site itself—Volcano Osorno! And it sure was a blast (pun intended). On the way, we stopped on the side of the road and took in the beauty of the snow-capped volcano... and of course enjoyed the roadside llama farm. LIFE=MADE.

We continued onward to Petrohue Rapids, where we took time to enjoy the turquoise colored falls with another great view of the volcano in the background. It would have been a lot nicer though if there weren’t these huge ass bugs swarming you. When I say swarming, I mean literally attack you. A bunch of them would land on you and it would sting all over until you swat them off. I don’t know what it is about me, but for some reason I attract the bugs.

Now that we covered every view of the volcano from the ground, it was time to make our way up the volcano. When going up hill, the bus needed so much energy that they actually had to turn the A/C off to make it up the hill. Even then, I still felt like we were “the little engine that could”. I think I can, I think I can!

As we approached the top, the views got better and better. Once we made it up as far as we could in the bus, we got off and took a chairlift even higher. I don’t know if it was the pure air or the tranquil sea below, but I felt a sense of peace, even when I was right next to a volcano that recently erupted.

After enjoying the volcano, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant in the middle of the woods. Not even joking. We drove into the woods and out of nowhere a restaurant appeared. As for food goes, we had a somewhat bland vegetable soup, salmon with grilled veggies, and a Chilean white wine. Since it is a port city, they are known for incredible fish and it lived up to the hype. The salmon was delicious and the size of my plate, but I ate every last bit of it! NOM.

From here, we made our last stop at Puerto Varas, a small town with a view of the sea. They had an incredible market and souvenir shops where everything was handmade. They didn’t have those cheap, cheesy souvenirs made in China, but rather made right in Chile! I was excited because I got a cute little alpaca key chain to add to my collection.

Lastly, just to throw in a fun fact: less than 5% of people in Puerto Montt speak a second language.