Emerald Lake, Petrohue Falls, and Puerto Varas

We woke up Wednesday to a beautiful sunrise!


It looks like the sky is on fire.

We continued to cruise north along the coast of Chile, with our next stop at the port city of Puerto Montt. 

Coming into Puerto Montt

This area of Chile is known as the Lakes District. It is a part of Northern Patagonia, which is sometimes called Green Patagonia. It is home to Llanquihue Lake, which is Chile's second largest lake. The most prominent features in this area are two active volcanos: Osorno and Calbuco, making for one of Patagonia's most picturesque vistas as they tower above the surrounding landscape. In fact, Osorno Volcano has been likened to Mt. Fuji in its stunning appearance. 

Osorno Volcano

Calbuco Volcano

There are over 2000 volcanoes in Chile and 63 of them are active. In fact, Calbuco has erupted as recently as 2015. Our tour guide, Patricio, had taken photos of this eruption from his house, and passed them around the bus for us to view.

Calbuco Volcanic eruption - 2015

Our tour guide Patricio

Our first event of the day was a ride on gorgeous Emerald Lake, where we boarded a boat for an hour's ride around the lake. The official name of the lake is Lago Todos los Santos, which means Lake of All Saints. But the locals began calling it Emerald Lake because of its vivid blue-green color due to its being a glacial lake. Apparently Theodore Roosevelt had visited here, and he called it the most beautiful lake in the world. No argument there. As we rode around the lake in the boat, we took many (way too many) photos of the surrounding vista - the mountains including the two prominent volcanoes, the lake, the emerald green water, the mountains, the lake...Just couldn't get enough of the beauty. 













Next we visited the beautiful Petrohue Falls, where we took a stroll down a pathway that led to stunning views of the landscape and natural wilderness. At an overlook at the end of the walkway, we took in the awesome scenery of a succession of blue rapids, glistening in the sunlight, against a backdrop of mountains, including the nearby Osorno volcano. We were mesmerized as we watched the water cascade over large slabs of basaltic rock in this amazing display of nature.








Next we drove to the city of Puerto Varas where we were treated to a nice lunch which consisted of sopapillas, vegetable soup, and a huge slab of grilled salmon. After this delicious lunch, we had time to walk around the town on our own, where we visited the handicraft market, the town square, and ventured in and out of the tourist gift shops. 





Handicraft market


Puerto Varas is also known as the city of roses. There were many rose bushes prominent throughout town. They were well kept and we saw quite a few city workers tending to them. The roses contributed to the beauty of the city.



The town of Puerto Varas, beautifully situated on Lake Llanquihue, offered a stunning panorama of the Lake in the foreground and the mountains, including the ubiquitous Osorno, in the background. There is a beach along the lakeshore, which is right next to the main highway that goes through the town. Because of the volcanoes, the beach is a black beach, as it consists of ground black lava. 





After our free time walking around in Puerto Varas, we returned to the cruise ship. There certainly has been no shortage of gorgeous scenery on this trip and we have been blessed with beautiful weather.

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