The ship spent the night anchored in Castro and left early the next morning...View image...through the Quehui and Calcahue Channels before dropping anchor at Dalcahue, a little town on Chiloe with interesting crafts.

From there, the Skorpios sailed on to Cabulco, the oldest town in the region on the Island of Huelmo. Off the ship to explore once again but again there wasn't much to see with the exception of a few llamas here. I have this "thing" for llamas and camels both with unique personalities and can spend days watching them.

Continue reading "Cabulco and The Chile Cruise Was Over" »

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Castro, Chiloe is the former capital of the province and was founded in 1567. You can ferry between the island and the mainland of Chile. Fishing is the main economic activity but it was interesting to find out that the most widely grown variety of potato in the world is indigenous to the island.

Casto was having the VII Festival Costumbrista Chilote with comidas tipicas-juegos-costumbres-artesania (food, drink, costumes, arts) during one of the days the Skorpios visited. Our Spanish was improving but without anybody to practice on back home, the new vocabulary disappeared quickly. This was a chance to stretch sea legs, walk through town, do a little shopping and attend one of the performances.

Continue reading "A Visit to Chiloe Island" »

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In several lifeboats, we continued motoring around Laguna San Rafael with ice bergs everywhere and the imposing San Rafael Glacier. Laguna San Rafael was discovered in the 16th century by a Spanish navigator, Sir Juan Garcia Tao. The 15km/9.3m San Rafael Glacier forms an impressive wall nearly 2km/1.3m wide. The boats took us in very close (too close for my comfort level) and we just sat for a while, listening to the creaks and groans of the Glacier while every now and then a huge chunk would break off and fall into the Lagoon. There were just our small boats and two research scientists in kayaks in the Lagoon, nothing else.

It was cold, but not freezing. We were taken aback by the beauty of this glacier and the different colored ice bergs and had never dreamed it would be so dramatic....View image... Again, this was 1986, well before I'd even paid any attention to Patagonia and the geography of this region.

Continue reading "Cruising in Laguna San Rafael" »

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Most days along the route, the Skorpios would come to a stop, lower nets and fishing boats would dump loads of crab, more fresh oysters, clams, and sea urchins onto the deck. I must have eaten at least two dozen oysters for lunch one day. A dozen raw and a dozen baked with cheese. Unlimited wine, we were happy campers.

Another evening, the Skorpios pulled up to a waterfall, stuck a hose in it and refilled the water tanks on ship. Pure, clear uncontaminated water from a glacier. The scenery became more dramatic the further we went into the fjords and finally, there was Laguna San Rafael with glaciers and ice bergs floating everywhere.

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It was another calm, sunny day and the Skorpios was steaming ahead. After lunch, ex-Marine and I decided to go below, shower and take a "brief nap." Completely naked, we suddenly heard the ship's alarm and sirens go off. We looked at each other and said..."Oh, my God...we're sinking!" Panic set in and with shaking hands and visions of the Titanic, we threw on clothes as fast as we could, put on life jackets and pounded up the steps to the deck.

Before we ran out of the state room, I screamed...(SERIOUSLY)..."Sonny, don't forget the American Express Card and our Passports..."

Continue reading "A Cruise Day on The Skorpios I" »

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Those sleeping pills were fantastic. Man oh man, would I love a prescription for those. Too bad they are probably outlawed in most countries. One of the passengers didn't believe they would work and took TWO of them. She almost overdosed and spent the next morning being walked around the decks (and held up under the arms) by two men.

We cruised via the Perez Norte, Perez Sur, Moraleda, Ferronave Channels and Islas Huichas until we reached Puerto Aguirre, a small fishing village. A stop there with a chance to stretch our legs and explore a little.

Continue reading "Cruising To A Fishing Village in The Fjords of Chile" »

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We made our way through Argentina and Chile's Lake District by a variety of transportation. From Puella, a motor launch across Lago Todo Los Santos to Petrohue where we boarded a bus for a two-hour ride along Lago Llanquihue to Puerto Montt for the evening. The Lake District is beautiful and can easily be seen independently the same way we did it.

In Puerto Montt, we transferred to the dock for embarkation. Unlike most cruise ships that depart in the late afternoon or evening, the Skorpios was scheduled to leave in the early morning. Aboard ship and shown to our very basic stateroom right by the crew's quarters, we made two very important discoveries:

- There were quite a few empty cabins and the purser was busily moving passengers around into better cabins at no extra charge. By the time we discovered this, the great cabins were gone but at least we were moved away from the crew's quarters; and

- No one spoke English!

Continue reading "Th Skorpios Cruise Began in Puerto Montt, Chile" »

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I read a brochure about a small boat called the M/N Skorpios I that cruised through the Fjords of Chile over 20 years ago. ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I were in the process of putting together an ambitious trip that included: Buenos Aires, Argentina; a flight to Bariloche; a surface crossing through Argentina's Lake Country to Peulla by boat and bus; overnight in Peulla; followed by a public bus crossing to Puerto Montt, Chile. This is where the 7-night Skorpios cruise begins and ends so we happily added it to the itinerary. After the cruise, we flew to Santiago for a few days.

An obscure mention about the Skorpios in a magazine had brought this cruise to my attention. Even our travel agent had never heard about this cruise. Never deterred, I added it to the itinerary without thinking twice. Perhaps, I should have thought twice.

Continue reading "Cruising Through The Fjords and Glaciers of Chile" »

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