Day 10 already and timewise we have travelled over halfway on our Chilean Fjord journey. According to the map, we are between the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. The geography of Chile is rather a mystery to me –it's about 4000km long but only a matter of a few 100 km wide with many different climatic regions from deserts, lakes, towering mountains and glaciers.
We navigated in to the sheltered waters at Tortel, a little fishing village located at the junction of two rivers which flow into the Pacific Ocean. I’m not a huge fan of visiting villages. Yes, I know that tourism helps a little to support some of these communities (probably the tour companies' $s rather than what the tourists spend which is precious little), but on this trip I was more interested in wildlife, geography and geology. However …. here we were, and it was picturesque (and one tries not to feel guilty about not buying yet more trinkets which customs officers will probably confiscate anyway - if there's room in the case in the first place which there wasn't!). This community was once rather isolated but recently had a road built in from somewhere. Prior to that access was entirely by water.
The local industry, in addition to fishing, is timber. Everything is made of wood and quite quirky. We walked along the waterfront on wooden pontoon/pathways suspended a few metres above the water. The waterfront was glorious with lush vegetation and fungi and was alive with birds and insects – I was thoroughly captivated.
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| The bees and hummingbirds were busy around the lush Magellanic fuchsia |
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Top L This looked like a species of Holly bush; Top R bright fungi grew alongside
lichen in many places
Pink was a predominant colour with the profusion of the Magellanic fuchsia and berries which spilled down the hillsides. |
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| The village was built on the slopes of the fjord - everywhere were steps and wood |
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| It was quite intriguing to explore the shoreline of this village on timber planks |
Then we all met at the village rotunda at the appointed hour for some entertainment and local handicrafts.
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| Quaint! A few of the village folk entertained us with music and dance while others served us Pisco Sours (a delicious South American drink) and empanadas. |
Then it was back to the mothership where we were treated to a delicious BBQ on the back deck. When all else fails food and a couple of drinks seem to be the answer to everything.
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| It's a hard life! but we were welcomed back on board with a BBQ lunch |
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| Apropos of nothing, this is an interesting chart from one of our lectures - an ever changing world |
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| What a farewell! |
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| A black-browed Albatross following our passage - glorious thing |
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| A gentle sunset |
Next day we were sailing in the Pulluche Channel with similar scenery – narrow channels and beautiful mountains tumbling down into the water, but in addition this location was recognised as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1979.
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| A fish farm |
I know that people complain about fish farms and the potential and/or actual damage to the local waterways and fish but with native fish stocks dwindling world-wide and in some places totally wiped out, and people being encouraged to eat more fish than red meat, the conclusions are pretty obvious to me - stop eating fish and eat farmed 'other' meat or farm fish. It equates to the arguments raised against the bushmeat industry. Stepping down off my soapbox now!
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| Elsewhere tranquility |
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