41. Puerto Chacabuco, Chile

Puerto Chacabuco, Chile   

           

56 F (13C)     

That's the Whole Town of Puerto Chacabuco

I looked at this port from the railing of the ship, wondering if I should get off. We traveled here after leaving Puerto Montt by going south again. Puerto Chacabuco is a very small town at the end of a long fjord, totally forlorn and I have no clue why we stopped here.

Puerto Chacabuco is different from the town of Chacabuco, which is in the Atacama Desert. 

Fancy Hotel

Puerto Chacabuco has a fancy hotel but who would go here, what would they do?

The roads are gravel, well not all, some are paved. The houses, most of them are in desperate need of repair. All of them are small and remind me of grander shacks.

Why are we here?

We finally did get off the ship, walked the partial gravel road to the fancy hotel to see if we could get internet there and yes, they had it.

We were told US $5.00 for an hour; or if you wanted to sit down and have a coffee while on the internet the charges would be $10.00 for internet and coffee.

Coffee Shop With Good WIFI - At First

We went back out, walked along the tarred road and found a ‘restaurant’ that had Wi-Fi. We could sit down, have a coffee for $3.00 and the internet was fast and fairly good. Well, good until other people from the ship found this place and used their computers and then the bandwidth crashed and the connection was ‘slooow’. Carol tried again to gain access to her banking in Canada but again the message was ‘try another time’.

Coffee - Instant But Not Too Bad

So what do we do in a town time forgot? No matter where you walk, it all looks the dilapidated same. I asked the lady in the ‘restaurant’ if there is anything to see and she just shrugged her shoulders and that was it. 

After our coffee and after we downloaded the emails we walked back towards the harbor where we previously noticed someone had set up some tents that served kind of like shops. 

Carabineros de Chile

The merchandise inside those tents was home knitted goods that the locals tried to sell to the tourist trade. 

It was a clash of worlds. 

Oh, there would have been plenty of buyers had those ‘stores’ had any marketable merchandise for sale, but what they offered was of the poorest quality and totally not appropriate for the spoiled American taste.

On Their Windscreen

I felt for the sellers, even for the town, but what they needed in Puerto Chacabuco was a vision. ‘You will build it and they will come’ only works if you have something people want to see, want to buy or want to admire.

There is nothing in Puerto Chacabuco for most 1^st world countries besides quiet and yes, nature of some kind.

Town of Puerto Chacabuco

We went back on board and watched a TV movie named: Loving Vincent”.

All the scenes in the movie were hand painted, an amazing feat since most drawings were made in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. 

Dinner time was with a couple who wanted to go to Germany next and we gave them some hints and ideas on what to see and do there.

The late show was Rick Steele again, this time in his regalia and guitar…. Instead of pure country music he mixed in Rock…. Not so good!