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| The giant Sentados Frente del Mar statue is often criticized for its unattractiveness. We found it to be humorous and charming. Note the size of the statue by comparing me standing at her feet. |
“Sightings from the Veranda while Cruising”
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| A snow-covered mountain view from the veranda while in Puerto Montt. |
With only 11 days remaining until the cruise ends on December 23rd, Tom’s birthday, we continue to find ourselves with stories and photos backed up. Of all of our 21 past cruises in our over five years of world travel, we’ve yet to have so much to share.
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| Santuario Santa Maria del Mar. |
In part, it may be due to the fact that we’ve taken an even greater interest in ports of call with an increased passion for learning more and more as time marches on.
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| Side view of the tiny church. |
Many of the ports of call and areas we’re seeing on this cruise are new to us and although we’ll definitely plan to return to South American no later than 2020, we’re fascinated with this complex continent.
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| The tiny church appeared to be able to seat about 16 parishioners. |
As we mentioned in the past, spending part of a day in a port of call by no means provides us with any degree of knowledge compared to our experiences of “living” in a country for two to three months.
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| Stained glass window. |
But, for many travelers, these one-day experiences give them somewhat of the flavor of the country as they scramble to see as much as possible in a four or five-hour tour, whether “ship sponsored” or on their own.
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| The mysterious “all-seeing eye” is often found in churches throughout the world. |
There are certain hazards in visiting ports of call, especially for seniors (or others) with medical conditions. In rough seas, a few days ago in Puerto Montt, we heard that three seniors suffered heart attacks while on the tenders.
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| “Osorno Volcano is a 2,652-metre (8,701 ft) tall conical stratovolcano lying between Osorno Province and Llanquihue Province, in Los Lagos Region of Chile. It stands on the southeastern shore of Llanquihue Lake and also towers over Todos Los Santos Lake. Osorno is known worldwide as a symbol of the local landscape, and is noted for its similar appearance to Mount Fuji.” |
Another was injured when seats on the lifeboat in which they were riding, broke loose during rough seas slamming against a passenger’s legs. Of course, this is hearsay since the ship’s staff doesn’t share information about illness and injury to passengers.
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| A Black-faced Ibis. |
Sometimes, what we may “hear” is fact and at other times may purely be based on the human phenomenon to embellish a story when it’s passed on from one person to another.
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| Harbor view. |
We know how dangerous rough seas can be and for the less experienced passenger, being in a lifeboat in outrageously choppy seas could easily elicit sufficient stress to exacerbate an already existing medical condition.
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| View of our ship, Celebrity Infinity, in the harbor in Puerto Montt. |
As we’ve navigated through the Chilean Fiords over these past few days, (photos coming tomorrow) the seas have been rough at times, swaying our ship to and fro.
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| Flowers blooming on the grounds of the church. |
The Chilean Fiords are used by ships when attempting to avoid the rough seas and bad weather often experienced when passing from the Pacific Ocean from the western end of the Strait of Magellan. Tomorrow, we’ll be writing more on this part of our itinerary including photos and a map of our location.
Today, another day at sea we’ll continue as we have over the past several days, enjoying the pleasant company of many other travelers, reveling in their stories, as well as sharing our own.
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| Pretty flowers at the tiny church. |
Yesterday, we met a fabulous couple, Vicki and Ray, with whom we spent the entire afternoon in Cafe al Bacio. We shared many hilarious and entertaining stories of our mutual experiences in awe of how diverse their adventures were as well.
At dinner with shared a table with two couples, one from Germany, who is on a one-year world travel adventure. Much younger than us, it was exciting to hear of their often frightening and risk-taking treks in many areas of the world.
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| Views of Puerto Montt from atop a hill. |
Another couple at the table, Linda and Leo, are now living in Florida, also have had extensive travel experience and it was fun to hear their stories. The two hours at the dinner table passed quickly and by 9:30 pm we headed back to our cabin.
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| The lighted cross atop Tenglo Island as our ship sailed away after dusk. |
Tom’s cold was still present and an early night’s rest was definitely on the agenda. So far, I’m yet to suffer any symptoms that he’s passed it on to me. My fingers remain crossed that miraculously I’ve been spared. But, Tom doesn’t complain and without a fever or a cough, he’s been able to continue to participate in our usual routine.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more. May you have an outstanding day!
