Eating with Sea Lions

Puerto Montt was our first port of call in Chile on this trip. To be honest it’s a little dead, and that’s being nice. I think Muerto Montt would have summed up that port town a whole lot better. It’s amazing that such a busy port town could be so dull, and be full of such dull and really ugly people. I’m still baffled that why every ugly person in Chile ends up in Puerto Montt. Why?

We headed up the coast a few km’s to a place called Angelmo. It’s nothing special, literally rows of cabins selling tourist gifts on both sides of the road. There is also a huge wooden restaurant and fish market construction that over looks the sea.

The market is pretty cool, but does over emphasise on the shellfish side of things. But still pretty cool after no-fish Argentina and frozen fish Colombia.

All the restaurants look very similar and the menus are kinda the same also. All quite simple in their set up. Kitchen in the front and tables out back. Nothing grand can be cooked in this simple surroundings and we didn’t expect any.

We just went with the one that had a few people in it eating and having fun. Sat down at the bench and ordered a couple of plates of fried fish fillets and salad. The food and beer were pretty good, but what made this such a great meal was the scenery. We were looking right over an inlet of the sea and literally below us were a family of sea lions playing and being fed by the locals.

I’ve never seen sea lions so close up before. I’d seen them from afar in the “Poor Man’s Galapagos” off the coast of Paracas in Peru. But this was amazing.

I think I was smiling like a little boy I was so happy. Big cheesy grin. Never before had I experienced something that made me so happy. So cool.

After the meal we went downstairs and watched them for an age. They visit Puerto Montt every Summer just to get fed me thinks, as everyone was throwing them scraps of food every one in a while.

Puerto Montt is best avoided, but this made it kinda worth while visiting.