Puerto Montt and the 4 day Navimag trip down the Chilean Fjords to Puerto Natales.

Thursday: The bus journey to Puerto Montt in Chile took approx 8 hours – longer than expected due to the Chilean border crossing. As we found out, the Chilean Envionmental Department are extremely thorough (i.e. ridiculously so) in controlling food products across the border. We must have been at the border for over an hour during which every bag was put through an airport type scanner and a declaration form was filled in stating what food & drink substances you were carrying. With no idea of this we shed a few food items prior to crossing.

So we arrived in Puerto Montt and checked into Casa Perla – a cute little B&B. Perla was the perfect host and we were soon out exploring the town. To be honest the town doesn't offer much to do, but the countryside offers much more including horse riding, hiking and other outdoor activities. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for any of these activities as we were catching the Navimag ferry the next day; so we settled for a walk along the sea front instead.

Friday: We had to board at 14:30 and so had the morning to relax with the rest of the passengers in the town's harbour & fish markets whilst basking in the splendid sunshine. We were very excited about the ferry journey and were enjoying the day until we noticed Lynne's passport had been swiped from her handbag. With only 20mins before boarding both our hearts sunk and were understandably shaken. Luckily upon retracing our steps we spotted the passport discarded in some bushes only a few metres away. We realised Lynne had been targeted by some pickpockets (two middle aged ladies) who we had thought were gossiping and walking slowly in front of us, we now know what they were doing was purposely separating the two of us before making the grab. Fortunately for us, they must have decided that the passport was of little use to them and ,perhaps after hearing Lynne's shouts, decided to throw it in the undergrowth next to the walkway. So we boarded with hearts racing and feeling very relieved indeed!!

Moving on, the first day on board was really pleasant, the weather was stunning as we set out to sea down the Fjords. We had booked 2 bunks in a room of 4 and shared with two Italians neither of whom spoke English or Spanish – but they were cheery enough people and by the fact all of us had brought on board plenty of wine we developed a mutual respect for each other. The boat was an old cargo ship that now transports tourists around the Chilean Fjords. There were plenty of Europeans on board mixed amongst Chileans and some North Americans. All announcements were in Spanish and English and the crew were all young and good fun. Instead of describing the route each day we have attached a rough map of the route (best we could find on the internet). If you want more information the website is http://www.navimag.com/.

The day was spent on top deck with the majority of passengers enjoying the sun or reading books in the bar / lunge area. The evening was spent in the bar playing cards, chess and mixing with the other passengers over some wine!!

Saturday: After a good breakfast (all meals are served in a canteen – decent quality in-fact!) the day was again spent walking around the decks enjoying the scenery and wildlife. This was enhanced by a very lively presentation by the crew on native Patagonian wildlife. By the afternoon however, the weather had closed in and we were to enter the Pacific Ocean from 14:00 after passing through Bahia Anna Pink into the Golfo de Penas. The crew warned us that the conditions would become very choppy and it is advised to take sea sickness tablets. Lynne was the first of the Hendersons to be affected and went for an afternoon nap to recover, much like a number of other passengers. David meanwhile (one never to have been affected by sea sickness) was in the Bridge with the captain and on the front of the top deck enjoying the experience of just how humbling the ocean can be! The waves at times crashed over the front of the lower deck and the size of waves very daunting. However, by dinner time the tables were turned as David started to feel a bit green, by that time Lynne was feeling much better as the sea sickness tablet had taken affect! David for once couldn't finish a meal and went to bed with a tablet! He certainly wasn't the only one and a number of people had to be carried off to bed after being revisiting by their dinner in the corridors and toilets of the ship! By about 9pm the ship was deserted as almost all the ship's passengers had retired to their cabins attempting to sleep through the very choppy conditions!! We found ourselves sliding down the beds constantly as the ship rocked forwards, backwards and sidewards!

Sunday: The ship awoke in calm conditions once more after escaping the Pacific ocean through the Angostura Inglesa. The views were fantastic today and it felt like you were a million miles from any civilisation amongst the many inhabited isles of the region. After an informative (!) talk by the staff about glaciers, the boat took a detour northwards to treat the passengers to up close and personal visit of the largest Glacier in the Southern Ice Field of Southern America – 'Pio XI' (The 11th Pope). This was truly a staggering sight which left everyone speechless. This topped off a day of seeing lots of wildlife including dolphins, sea lions and many of the regions birds.

The final evening on board was a bit of a party and included a brief staff Karaoke before a game of Bingo. During the game, the booze was flowing and with every winning line the lucky contestant had to dance in front of all the room. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for all involved Lynne was one number away from winning the star prize!! We hit the dance floor as expected and after being completely embarrassed by some Chilean dancers we decided to call it a night!

Monday: The final part of the journey took us through the Golfo Almte Montt and was enjoyed on the deck with most of the other passengers trying to clear our hazy heads. The final leg into Puerto Natales is in a truly breathtaking setting, surrounded by huge dramatic snow capped mountains and vast plains of arid land.

In summary, we had a great time aboard the Navimag and really enjoyed the opportunity to see very rarely travelled waters and coast line. At times eerie, beautiful, scary and simply breathtaking it had a bit of everything. The staff were great, everyone on board was there to enjoy it and have a good time and the food wasn't half bad. Although more pricey than travelling by road we thoroughly enjoyed it!!