Puerto Chacabuco and Chilean Fjords

I've been interested in the many varieties of trees and plants in South America. Two stand out and they're present here in Chacabuco.

The leaves of Araucaria evergreen trees are pointed and razor sharp. We've seen two varieties in South America. Here in Chacabuco we see the Araucaria araucana or "umbrella tree." The term "umbrella" describe the mature appearance of these trees, after they lose their lower limbs. Araucaria araucana is also widely known as the monkey puzzle tree. It was so named by an Englishman who thought it would be quite a puzzle for a monkey to figure out how to climb this tree. Araucaria trees have edible seeds similar to pine nuts which are harvested, somehow, around the sharp leaves.

Gunnera sp. is a giant rhubarb-like plant which grows wild in Chacabuco. We had seen it last summer in a garden outside a Pender Harbour pub in BC, Canada and we were amazed by its enormous highly indented leaves and its interesting flower stalks. I read that the base of the leaves is home to nitrogen-fixing bacteria which live in an unusual symbiotic relationship with the plant. The bacteria allow Gunnera to grow in soils poor in nitrogen. This is a unique adaptation of this genus. The stalks can be eaten raw in salads.

Chacabuco is on the Aisen Fjord at the 45th parallel, like our home in Depoe Bay, Oregon in the northern hemisphere. This port is a center for the salmon fishery in Chile. There is a large fish processing plant here and the fish seem to be loaded directly into big refrigerated shipping containers to be sent off to markets abroad. Salmon aquaculture is also prevalent in the Chilean fjords. It is a busy place for tourism, too. It's wet and rugged and home to the Rio Simpson National Reserve.

The Chilean fjords remind us very much of the Canadian waters we sail in summer, especially Desolation Sound. The farther north we go, the calmer the waters become, and gradually we see more fishing boats. At the 41st latitude, the Pacific West Wind Drift current meets South America and splits. The Humboldt Current runs north and the Cape Horn Current runs south. Tides in the fjords can range 24 feet. The Aisen Fjord connects to the Moreleda Channel as we travel north from Chacabuco.