Puerto Chacabuco

Pto Chacabuco's man in the mountain.

Our second port of call, Puerto Chacabuco, was touted as a place of majestic open spaces to be appreciated mainly for its solitude and remoteness. All codes words for 'don't expect much 'cuz there ain't nothing there'. This explained why, try as I might, I was not able to pre-book any sort of tour prior to the cruise. Not only were there no tour operators, I suspect that computers with an Internet connection were in short supply as well. But not to worry, the cab drivers of Chacabuco and its neighboring "city", Aysen were more than happy to fill this gap. As soon as we got off the boat, a small army of drivers awaited us with identical signs promising a tour of all the area's highlights. They all offered the same circuit for the same price ($120 for up to 4 people versus $99 per person on NCL) so the only question was which driver we would choose. I'm not sure if there had ever been any English-speaking guides to go around, but even if there were, they were most surely gone by the time we had arrived. This left us with a Spanish-speaking driver and me as the unofficial translator for the group. For the most part, this was not a problem. The issue arose anytime Margaret, a woman from Vancouver, would ask for the names of certain trees or flowers (something that she did a lot) and my answer would invariably have to be "Well, in Spanish, it is called a ___". I know she wanted the English name and had no interest in the Spanish version, but I was struggling enough as a translator, I wasn't about to try to add botanist to my tour duties.

Our drive took us through the lovely Rio Simpson National Park on a road which offered plenty of lookout points with vistas of the valley, a waterfall and of course the Rio itself. We followed this scenic road until we reached the small town of Coyahique, the region's capital. It was exactly the same tour that the ship offered, but where we benefited greatly from our chosen guide was in the fact that her husband was also a cab driver, who happened to be slightly ahead of us. He was continuously updating her via cellphone on the whereabouts of the ship's bus caravan, so that we were able to easily avoid these areas until a later time when the crowds had cleared out. It worked out perfectly, we drove by a small museum jam-packed with people only to return later and find just the guards having their coffee and relaxing under a shade tree. Same for the crafts market in Aysen, where I purchased a knit hat from a woman who told me of her dreams of returning to Miami so that she could visit Michael's, the mega craft store. I guess all that remote beauty does not mean much when you want your choice of yarn in 299 colors.

After helping us run some errands...I needed a corkscrew for some wine that I had smuggled onto the ship and Margaret needed bleach (?)... our driver/ guide returned us to the port, once again with plenty of time to spare. We had enjoyed another relaxing, sunny day admiring some spectacular landscape, therefore, as far as I am concerned the score was now: NCL 0 Indie Traveller 2.