Viking Cruise South America - Day 4 - Christmas Day

 

Merry Christmas from Puerto Varas

Day Four, Christmas Day, we awoke in Cabin 3092 to find ourselves in a beautiful bay harbor near the town Puerto Montt. After listening beautiful Christmas music from our Sacred Heart Church in Punta Gorda via You Tube, we dashed off to Mamsen's near the Explorer Lounge at the bow of the ship for a delicious Norwegian waffle breakfast. Yum!

 

Breakfast Waffle at Mamsen's 

We disembarked at the quaint Puerto Montt by boarding a Viking tender on a sunny and mild morning, the temperature in the low 70's, just a Perfect Day. 

This land was populated by Germans who came here in 1854. Cute homes, rolling hills, green trees, flowers and 40 freshwater lakes dot the terrain in this region, one of 15 that makes up Chile. There are over 2000 volcanoes in Chile, of which 50 are active. We were about to walk on one!

Photo Stop to Pose with Osorno Volcano

Our bus rolled along the Pan American Highway and local roads through forests and fields to the snow capped Osorno Volcano reaching 8700 feet into the blue sky. At the base of the volcano, our bus negotiated steep switchbacks to bring us half way to the summit. 

My new friend posed me alongside of a wooden Chilean snowman. It is summer here, the opposite of our northern hemisphere seasons. Of course, this is lovely skiing area in their winter months. We hiked a cinder surfaced trail, snapping lots of photos along the way.

  

On the Volcano

Panorama from Osorno Volcano

Hiking on Osorno Volcano

Back on the bus, we wound our way down to the Petrohue Falls at Vicente Perez Rosales National Park. 

Petrohue Falls

At Puerto Varas, once a port city on Lake Llanquihue, we enjoyed a lunch of regional pumpkin soup, piskos (national lemon lime drink), delicious salmon and a German coffee cake with custard and raspberries. We were seated with our Idaho friends, Diana and Larry, and had a great time chatting up observations about the cruise, etc. Wandering along the waterfront, we enjoyed the sight of volcanos rising beyond the far shore of the deep blue lake's waters. 

Lunch in Puerto Varas

Fisheye View from Puerto Varas

Osorno Volcano Across Laguna Llanquihue 

Flower Along Waterfront at Puerto Varas

Viking Jupiter Anchored at Puerto Montt

Links 

Osorno Volcano  Petrohue Waterfalls  Llanquihue_Lake

Puerto Varas   Puerto Varas - Forbes   Puerto Varas - Chile Travel 

Valpariso to Puerto Montt - Looking East

Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas on Lago Llanquihue,  Petrohue Falls & Osorno Valcano

Osorno Volcano

Lago Llanquihue from Osorno Volcano

View of Snow Capped Peak from Trail