Puerto Montt

In my PC days (pre-cruise), I had assumed that one of the benefits of going on these things was not having to plan anything. You buy your ticket, show up when you are supposed to and everything else is taken care of. And this is, to an extent, true...as long as you don't mind paying crackhead prices (as in they must have been on crack when they priced these things) for the shore excursions. The amount of money that they ask for something as simple as a city walking tour is mind-boggling, not to mention the fact that by joining this walking tour, you will be amassed with a slow-moving horde, guaranteeing minimum enjoyment of the outing for all.

Anticipating this problem, not wanting to blow the savings of the cheapo cruise on shore excursions, and let's face it, because I can't help it...I'm a planner, I did some research and found local operators in most of the ports of call willing to do the same tours at a fraction of the price and with much smaller groups, to boot. I was a bit apprehensive to see if this would work, particularly since NCL does a very effective job of frightening passengers about independent excursions (ie. Operators are unreliable, vehicles used will be junk heaps and their real ace in the hole, if the independent tour runs late, the ship will leave without you.)

Sign of an upcoming annual music festival in Fruitillar.



Gazing out at Lake Llanquihue (pronounced Lake Yankee Way)



Fruitillar: Chile's answer to Epcot's German pavilion



Puerto Varas




The ever-present Osorno volcano.


No penguins yet, so I had to make do with an emu.









Petrohue Falls









Lago Esmeralda, or Emerald Lake, so named for the color produced by sediment in the water.

Puerto Montt, Chile was our first port of call and thus a test for the wisdom of this indie plan of mine. It was, at best, an inauspicious beginning. We did not pull into a dock, but dropped the anchor and passengers were ferried to shore via "tender boats".

Of course, priority was given to those who had purchased the ship's shore excursions, meaning by the time the riff raff, the solo travellers were allowed off, I was already an hour and a half late for the appointed meeting time.

I imagined a frustrated guide leaving in disgust after an hour's wait, mumbling something about stupid unreliable cruise ship people and me, later on, wandering the streets of this little town trying to figure out what to do. Luckily, my guide was resilient.

Not only was she still waiting for me, a man whom I had sought a price quote from took it upon himself to show up holding a sign with my name on it, as well. This bit of confusion quickly resolved, we commenced our tour, all six of us (that would be 4 tourists, 1 driver and 1 guide) riding comfortably in a sturdy-looking van. Our lovely guide, Veronica Stein of GV Tours, began by taking us to two Bavarian-style villages, Fruitillar and Puerto Varas.

Both towns, originally founded by German immigrants, looked to be perpetually ready for a very imminent Oktoberfest celebration. They were very charming, but they had nothing on what came next.

We had been warned on the ship that Pto. Montt is an exceedingly wet place (I forget the average rainfall, but I remember gasping aloud when I heard it) and that we should not get our hopes up on getting a good view of the Osorno volcano, known for its similar appearance to Mt. Fuji.

Yet, as we drove around Lake Llanquehue, we were treated to spectacular view after spectacular view, not only of Osorno, but of other, more distant volcanoes, as well. Veronica herself seemed stunned at the picture perfect day we were having and let us know, in no uncertain terms, that the prior week had been nothing like this.

We were at the very start of Puerto Montt's tourist season, so much so that we were the first ship to come through, a fact we later celebrated with champagne. We knew we had really lucked out, not only with the weather, which stayed perfect for the remainder of the day, but also with our decision to book an independent tour.

When we visited Emerald Lake, we had the entire thing to ourselves. We shared Petrohue Falls only with some locals. In the van, we got to feel like we were hanging out with a friend, rather than listening to someone on a microphone, rattling facts at us. And, perhaps most importantly, we were able to make it back to port with plenty of time to spare. Score: NCL 0 Indie Traveller 1