Chiloe Island

Tuesday, 11/18

Left Puerto Vargas at a reasonable time; no crack of dawn departure. Moderate bus ride to the ferry for a 30 minute ride to Chiloe Island. Chiloe consists of an archipelago located at the southern end of the Lake District of Chile. It is the largest of some 40 islands 40 located between the Pacific & the Andes.

We knew we were visiting the Punihuil Wildlife Reserve when we arrived, but little did I know the wildlife would be from the sea. What a great way to wet my whistle for my trip to Antartica in February of 2027.

Bridge that is going nowhere. Is supposed to link the island of Chiloe to the mainland. Conceived in the 90’s; started building in early 2000’s. Still a fantasy.
Our guide, Barry, calls his country a 3rd world country as nothing gets accomplished. Can’t take away from the beauty of the water, however.

Bus/passenger carrying ferry like this one transported us to Chiloe Island. Took only 30 minutes.
Looking at the Island of Chiloe, place of seagulls. Will be taking the ferry again on Thursday to eventually make our way to Puerto Monty Airport for our flight to Punta Arenas. I’m racking up the Delta FF miles.

“Dingy” to get us to the boat to see the sea-life on Penihuil Wildlife Preserve, which is located on the Pacific Ocean.

Docking. What an efficient way to get us to the sightseeing boat. Who said that Chile is a 3rd world country?

Humboldt Penguin taking its time getting into the water

Finally made the leap. Really blends into the landscape which certainly helps with anonymity.

Nature made bridge. Probably created by a tsunami during one of the many earthquakes.

Sea Lion sunning on the rocks at Puñihuil Wildlife Preserve. Big yawn which is sometimes how I feel after a full day of exploring.

Magellanic Penguin. Aren’t I beautiful!!!

Humboldt Penguin, competing for most beautiful.

After our wildlife happy time, we visited the Church of Your Lady of Nercon. Dates from 1880’s, all wooden including the statues & columns. Has withstood many earthquakes. UNESCO World Heritage site. Built in the shape of a boat. We were able to go up to the roof area to see how the church was constructed.

Nighttime view from my hotel room in Castro. Reflection of village lights in the water. Low & high tide occurs 6 times a day.

On Wednesday, we had another luxuriously lazy morning, departing at 8:45. Stopped along the waterfront of Castro, the capital of Chiloe Island. Many of us travelers dropped off stinky clothes at the local laundry & then viewed the houses on stilts before making our way to Rilan for A Day in the Life. Here we met Ilsa & Raul who welcomed us with tea/coffee & bread right out of the oven. Then it was off to the fogan, a covered outdoor structure, for an introduction as to how Ilsa & Raul conduct their daily lives, patterned after how their ancestors lived. After this introductory lesson, we rolled up our shirt sleeves to help prepare the Curanto, a typical Chiloean stew.

Stew ingredients: mussels, chicken, sausage, pork, milcaos (potato pancakes), chochoca (potato dough) both filled with finely chopped pork. This pot of deliciousness was topped with wine, water & large leaves from the garden. While this was stew was cooking for an hour over an open fire, we walked the farm with Raul & learned more about his many daily jobs.

This was a day of experiencing with limited picture taking.