The Quatchis and I went on our first cruise with my parents and brother. We started in Santiago, sailed down the coast of Chile, made a pit stop to see the penguins at the Falkland Islands / Malvinas, sailed up the coast of Argentina, spent a day in Montevideo, Uruguay, and finished on a high note in Buenos Aires.
Here's the first of a few posts from our trip!
After flying for 10 hours overnight, it was all systems go in Santiago. The Quatchis quickly looked up some places to check out while at our hotel.
The sun was shining and the temperature was hot - a great improvement from the chilly weather we left behind in Toronto. San Cristobal Hill offered panoramic views of the city. We also visited the Central Market, Plaza de Armas, a cathedral, La Moneda, and the University of Chile.
The next day we went to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso before boarding our cruise ship. We saw lots of archaeological finds from Easter Island at the Fonck Museum. The Moai statue guarding the museum is original!
Our first full day on the cruise was at sea. The Quatchis took full advantage of the ship. I'll post some photos of their shenanigans later on.
We docked at Puerto Montt, the southernmost end of Chile's Lake District. From Puerto Montt, we drove to see Osorno, our first volcano! It looks like a mountain but it's actually one of the most active volcanoes in Chile.
Not far away from the volcano is Chile's oldest national park, Vicente Perez Rosales. It's home to Petrohue Falls. It's hard to make out from this photo, but the water colour was bright turquoise.
A little further away from the volcano and falls was Lake Esmeralda. Here too the water was bright and clear (and basically matched the colour of the Quatchis' earmuffs). The area reminded the Mins of lakes he saw in Banff, Alberta.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Puerto Varas, eating seafood, checking out local goods (I bought handmade earrings), and enjoying the scenic views. So far, so good!
