Sorry everyone, but there was no blog from yesterday in Puerto Montt, Chile. I was quite sick and couldn't leave the ship. Bob went out but unfortunately he doesn't have the time or inclination to write the narrative. Nearly half of the passengers on our ship are sick with a gastrointestinal virus. Many are quarantined in their rooms. All buffets have been shut down so there is sit down service only offered on board. In addition, staff are stationed at each public area to ensure that as each passenger passes through they are asked to use the hand sanitizer located on the walls. Ship personnel are taking every precaution and being very proactive to rid the ship of this bug, since it seems to be quite contagious and lasts for nearly a week. Hopefully, I'll be up and around soon.
After staying in bed all day yesterday, I decided to attempt the excursion today since it was only a
4½ hour trip and didn't involve too much physical activity. I was feeling better but not certainly not completely recovered. I just didn't want to miss out on any more fun experiences so I decided to chance it!
We boarded a small bus and headed out to a local family's home for a barbecue and dancing. We drove for nearly an hour through landscape that we had not seen previously in South America. This area is the beginning of the beautiful Patagonia region in Chile. There were high, jagged mountain peaks topped with snow, green trees and grass forming forests teeming with life. Delicate waterfalls tumbled gracefully from the upper elevations creating quickly flowing rivers in the valleys below. The water was clear and the air was clean. The scents of the forests permeated the air and confirmed to our senses that we had left the coast behind and entered a completely different region.
Although when we left the port the road was paved, soon the pavement turned to gravel and our guide told us that this type of road is normal throughout this rural area. Our bus bumped and slid along the road as we made our way deeper into the luscious countryside. The dust created by our vehicle clouded the air behind us. After meandering through this enchanting area we arrived at our destination and we turned into the long dirt driveway down a gentle decline until we reached the house.
Upon our arrival the entire extended family came running out to greet us with huge smiles, hugs and kisses for each of us There was a mother, father, multiple grandparents, aunts, uncles, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and family friends. All of the young people under the age of 21 years were wearing vibrant traditional costumes. The youngest, a two-year old girl was absolutely adorable in her bright purple dress with hand sewn sequins, lace trimmed bloomers, and Mary Jane type shoes. Her hair was neatly twisted in rows on top of her head clipped at the end while her long dark hair flowed freely down her back.
We were lead inside by the family matriarch and invited to enjoy a Pisco sour, the national drink (everyone seems to drink alcohol here). We have learned to appreciate this refreshing beverage and most people accepted one gratefully after our long drive (I stuck with water since I still wasn't feeling well). We walked down the hill to the huge barbecue pit where an entire lamb was splayed and roasting over the open flame. I'm not a fan of lamb but it did smell quite good. We enjoyed our drink and homemade sopaipillas while we waited for the lamb to finish cooking. When it was ready we all marched back up to a lovely wooden agin type room filled with local art and pictures of famous Chileans.
The food was plentiful and delicious. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to eat more than a couple of bites. There were vegetable trays filled with their family grown produce, boiled potatoes which are an important staple of the diet in Chile, lamb, flan with caramel sauce, a specialty prepared lovingly by the grandmother, and of course wine produced on the property. Family members continued to circle the table, encouraging everyone to keep eating! Once dessert was served the dancing started. The young people stood up, waving their handkerchiefs, stomping their feet, capturing the essence of the traditional dance with their movements and facial expressions. Soon the rest of the family joined the dance and the party was on! Even grandpa and grandma joined the dancers and were absolutely adorable. Afterward, grandpa gave grandma a kiss on the cheek and melted our hearts. So sweet.
After lunch the matriarch suggested we go for a walk to explore the grounds and "digest our food!" We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the tranquil surroundings. I enjoyed some alone time sitting on a log near a river saying a prayer to thank God for allowing me to enjoy such a lovely journey to a different area of the world. It was finally time to leave and, once again, there were family hugs and kisses for everyone. Little did we know that another adventure was just ahead of us!
As we returned to the paved road we were about to cross the only road that leads back to the port. Suddenly the bus came to a screeching halt and paused for a few minutes. Our guide explained that the road ahead was being blocked by rioters. The city of Port Aysen was celebrating their 87th anniversary so the rioters felt it would be a good day to bring traffic to a halt since many local people would be coming into town to enjoy the evening fireworks and community festivities. City workers were unable to get home to their families and no one could get into town. Perhaps the rioters didn't anticipate having a ship in port, but when our official tried to talk with them to allow us to cross the line the cruise officials were told "we don't care WHO you are, you're NOT crossing this line." They had tires lined up on the road and had set them on fire so black smoke filled the air and the protestors were chanting. Unfortunately for us, it was in Spanish so we couldn't understand why they were protesting. Our guide was also confused about their issues The police were there, as was the military, but neither group appeared to have the crowd under control We had no idea how long we were going to be stranded. It was not a good day for me to be stuck since I continued to have symptoms of my illness. I was losing energy fast.
At this moment we started to become concerned. There was an angry group of people starting fires ahead of us and we were told there was no other way to reach our ship. Our escort contacted our cruise ship who contacted the local authorities immediately and informed them of our situation. After a lengthy delay the police demanded that our bus move a few blocks away to a side street since they were going to use force to disperse the crowd and they wanted us to remain at a safe distance. Unfortunately, whatever methods they attempted to use didn't remedy the situation. The road continued to be blocked and rioters were only getting angrier.
At this point some of our fellow passengers were getting agitated (remember, this is a group of old people who are not always terribly tolerant or patient). Our poor guide was suffering some unkind comments from some of the more vocal people. People were starting to throw out their own ideas like "bring in helicopters, sail the ships' tenders down the river to pick us up and sail back to the ship, ram the protesters, etc." It would have been laughable if these people weren't serious but unfortunately that wasn't the case. People thought that these were good solutions!!!
This story does have a happy ending. After talking with the local police, our group obtained permission to take a lengthy detour to a new, unfinished, gravel road that is being built so that there will be two roads that lead back to the port. It might have not been the best, nor safest road at this point, but it served our purpose quite well. Our driver quickly whisked us along the road to a new location which took us as far as the second, and final, roadblock of protesters and fire. We sat at this location, waiting for assistance. Finally, the local woman who runs the tour company which provided our bus transportation came to negotiate with the group leaders. Eventually they agreed to let our passengers pass through the rioters in small group. Little by little we told by until it was our turn to pass. When we began to pass through the crowd there were sneers, shouts, and laughter. I'm sure they were trying to intimidate us. Luckily, we couldn't understand what they said! We passed by the fires carefully, in a single file line, carefully watching our step as we made our way through the crowd slowly. Once we were on the other side safely we were able to take a bus that had come from the port to take us the rest of the way.
FINALLY, we rebounded our beautiful ship, thankful to be back "home." My outing was a bit longer than I had anticipated and I was tired and still not feeling well but extremely relieved that we were able to continue our amazing journey. Tomorrow we reach the middle of the Patagonia area and the Chilean fjords. It has been on my bucket list to visit this area so I'm quite exited. See you tomorrow. Goodnight all!
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