First Stop: Chiloé

Thanks to the frigid Humboldt Current sweeping it's way up from Antarctica along the Chilean coast, no one can actually swim in the sea here.  Consequently, the Lakes District (of which Pucón is the epicenter) becomes a veritable seething cauldron of 24-hour partying for the summer months of January and February.  Rents skyrocket plus we wanted to check out more of this beautiful country.  So...without further ado -- We're off!

First stop, Chiloé Island, but not before a road trip through the lakes district on our way to Puerto Montt.

Many large German farmsteads still dot the landscape in this area. Most
of the original residents have however long since moved to Santiago
leaving many of these once-grand estates in pretty sorry shape. 

Arrival in Chiloé

View of the mainland Andes from the ferry to Chiloé

Chiloé plays a mythical role in Chileno lore. A remote Spanish enclave, Chiloé was isolated for over 100 years from the rest of the Spanish New World far to the north due to a powerful Mapuche resistance on the vast and rugged surrounding mainland.  During this time, besides a lone Spanish fort, a few French whalers made their way to the island, followed by immigrants from Croatia and then Germany. Together these islanders adopted and co-created a rich culture of food, art and architecture.

Unique legends brim with fantastical sea creatures, ghost ships, and trolls prowling the dark temporal rain forests, ready to keep humans in their place. We were warned more than once, not to refer to these stories as mythology; for many, the legends are still alive and well.  One of the more colorful characters is Pincoya who dances seductively on the waves.  If she faces the shore, fisherman are guaranteed a good catch.  If she faces the sea, no fish.  On her better days, she's known to rescue drowning fisherman, which, as it turns out, is a good thing because we learned that most fisherman do not know how to swim.  Can you imagine, going out in the cold Pacific each night in a little open bow boat, not being able to swim?  I suppose in water that temperature it wouldn't help much anyway, so why not hope for Pincoya's rescue?  Trauco, the troll, on the other hand is hideously ugly, but virgins can't resist him and he lures them into the woods to impregnate them. So if the father isn't known, Trauco did it and it's not the girl's fault.  Men are similarly lured by Fiura, who takes advantage of them despite her horrid breath and then drives them insane.....

In search of Pumillahue, river fordings and beach traverses were par for the course. In this case we
had a few backpackers from Munich aboard for a wetter part of the journey.

Our first afternoon in Chiloé was spent bouncing along a gravel road covered in baches (i.e., potholes) large enough to swallow a tire and, at times, narrow enough to resemble a cow path.  A sober realization began to settle in:  We are lost, the wind is whipping, and the sun is setting.  As we debated where or how to turn around on the one lane road next to a steep cliff --or just car-camp for the night-- we noticed a figure, standing on a hill next to the road.  We stopped and as the figure approached us, Derk said in English: "Hey, I know you!" 

"No, no, I don't think you do," came the reply.  It was a guy whom we had met on a Galapagos Island ferry 9 months earlier, and he was staying at the hosteria we were hunting!  It turns out, he is promoting wave energy production in Chile and was touring his parents around the island. Originally from the Shetland Islands, their family visits other islands whenever they can.  Small world indeed. 

Talk about a great place to get lost.

Kaia and Niko are getting pretty good with the camera I'd say...

Many hundreds-even thousands of Cormorants flocked in one morning.

Around Pumillahue and a nearby island, both Magellanic and Humbolt penguins spend their summers breeding and feeding.  Although we all recalled seeing Humbolt penguins on the Galapagos, it's still hard to grasp the distance that they travel each year.

Castro - ...kinda like Venice...but not...

Low tide in Castro

Shell fish for breakfast...lunch.........and dinner.........

Palafitos in Castro, built literally on no-man's land, where houses on stilts are neither taxed nor protected by the navy (which owns all shoreline in Chile) or the state.

Around town in Castro

Isla Quinchao

Chiloé is actually a big island with an archipelago.  Each island has a distinct character and we hopped across a narrow fjord to see something else.

I guess we weren't the only ones
not sleeping well in a tent.

I call it camp-site creep....

Campsites during summer vacation are full of entertainment in many forms

Looking back to the main island of Chiloé

We really enjoyed the handicrafts on Chiloé. There seemed to be a unique style on fabrics and designs than in other markets we have visited in Chile.  Similarly the food was different than anything we had tried in Chile so far.  We especially enjoyed Curanto, a banquet of fish, meat and potatoes wrapped in Nalca leaves the size of table cloths and slow-steam cooked in the ground with hot grapefruit-sized stones. We also loved Chochoca al Palo and Milcao - potato bread baked on a thick pole over a grill, and then folded around a meat or fish filling and sliced into square segments. 

Papas Chilotes or Chiloé
potatoes-these are
the originals folks!

Though the architecture of Chiloé seems weathered and run down, there's a patina the makes you stop and look a bit longer.  Here are a few abodes in Curaco de Velez and Achao.

UNESCO has not overlooked this island either.  Sprinkled across the Chiloé Archipelago are dozens of miniature cathedrals--made entirely of wood-each with unique form and detail.


Back to the Main Island

Playing on the beach in Cucao, gateway to Chiloé National Park

Saying goodbye to Chiloé

After a  week of exploring Chiloé, and honing our car-camping skills, we headed to Quellón on the far southern end of the island. There we boarded an over-night ferry through the fjords to Puerto Chacabuco, where we would join the Carretera Austral.

Next post:
Carretera Austral: Chacabuco to Puerto Rio Tranquilo.