Chiloe

We have now spent 2 days on the island of Chiloe which is an island off the south of Puerto Montt. Some travel blogs refer to it as Patagonia but it is not considered Patagonia.We got going early on Wednesday morning as we wanted to incorporate a visit to the penguin colony at Punihuil which is on the northwest coast of Chiloe. The penguin colony would result in a diversion off our route to Castro on the main island. It would increase the drive time by about an hour and a half for a total of 4.5 hours. I am finding the driving a little tiring. The traffic leaving Puerto Veras was pretty bad. I guess everyone must commute from Puerto Varas to Puerto Montt as supposedly PV is much more pleasant. It was also very foggy which didn't help. We bypassed Puerto Montt on the number 5 highway. It seemed quite large. We will return to PM in a few days to return our rental car and fly back to Santiago. PM doesn't get great reviews so we will probably not drive into town.

We arrived at Punihuil in good time and were able to get on a 10:45 penguin tour. There were 7 of us on the tour in a boat that could probably fit 30. We were wheeled out to the boat on a large platform so we wouldn't get wet.The tour was in Spanish but one could get the gist of the tour. The guide explained that Punihuil is unique as Humboldt and Magellan penguins both nest together. The penguins can be differentiated as the one species has one stripe and the other has two stripes. The guide also explained how the penguins spent half the year nesting in Punihuil and the rest of the year swimming around in the ocean. We travelled only a short distance from shore and slowly cruised past three different roosting spots for the birds. There must have been about 20 birds in each spot standing watching us go by. They looked just like the penguins at the Calgary zoo. One could make out the young penguins as their coloration was less pronounced. We also saw some pelicans and unusual seagulls. The tour lasted for 35 minutes which was perfect as we got our fill of the penguins but didn't have time to get seasick. Another adventure checked off my bucket list.

We followed Google maps to Castro. The first half hour was on hilly curvy gravel roads through the countryside. It felt like rally driving. We passed through some very pretty countryside of grazing land for dairy and cattle. At one point I had to come to an abrupt stop when a large sow walked onto the road. The route was more scenic than if we had stuck to the main roads but I can't believe it was any faster. I think Google must attribute a higher speed limit than is possible on these secondary roads.

We were able to get into our Air BnB early so we just chilled out. That evening we ventured out to wander around downtown. Chiloe is known for these beautiful wood churches built in the 18 and early 19 century. There are 16 remaining and they are considered UNESCO heritage sites. The San Franciscan church in downtown Castro was very beautiful being made of beautiful finished wood. Fortunately it was open for evening mass so we were able to go inside. The building looked less impressive from the outside as it had been sided with Corrugated metal to protect the wood from the rain. We wandered around the central square where for the first time we witnessed stray dogs aggressively barking at a person walking by. There are lots of dogs in in Castro and lots of strays. Just as we made it back to our car we were challenged by a large black lab so I quickly jumped into the passenger side of the car. I don't need to be bitten by a stray dog as contact tracing would be impossible.

Thursday we headed south and west of Castro to Cucao on the west side of the island. Chat GPT recommended a beach walk and a short temperate rainforest hike. The beach was a beautiful Sandy beach that stretched for ever. The waves were crashing in from the ocean and there was absolutely no one there. We had it to ourselves other than some seagulls and vultures. The stand was firm and we walked for ever. This will be the most southerly point we reach in Chile. On the way back to Castro we stopped in Conchi and Nercon to take in a few more wooden churches. The churches look impressive today so I am sure they must have been pretty magnificent to the Chiloeans 250 years ago. When we got back to Castro we finished the day with a walk around town and a visit to the municipal market where I bought a Chiloean hat. We also wandered around to get a photo of some of the beautifully coloured stilted waterfront houses that Castro is known for.Read more