CHILOE ISLAND

Friday, January 8, 2010

When he wind is howling and the rain crashes on the roof, you ignore the alarm and turn over one more time.
Today is one of the few occasions we need to take care of our own breakfast. I actually enjoy it and before preparing a light breakfast, I boil some water for tea, hoping the flame of the stove will warm up the old, humid cabin. But meanwhile Ramiro starts a fire in the woodburning stove in the corner of the cabin. It’s starting to feel nice and cozy.
We discuss our next route and hope to drive to Contao and take the ferry from Hornopiren to Chaiten. We’re not able to get enough information on line and decide to pack up all our things and go downtown to the ferry office and perhaps continue from there. A good thing we did not just go and take a chance, because we learn that both the Saturday and Monday ferries are fully booked. There was  a special promotion, which was taken advantage of quickly. The next ferry is Wednesday.
After a brief discussion, we decide to book a ferry from Castro on Chiloe Island, which will take us to Chaiten. It does mean that we will have have only a day and a half on the island.
We cash in some more US dollars, recharge the cell phone, buy a few more groceries and drive the 58 kilometers west to Pargua from where the ferry departs.
Here and there a few patches of blue sky appear. It may not be so bad after all. The average high temperature in this part of the world, is however only about 14 degrees Celsius.

The ferry ride is only 30 minutes and before we know it, we are on the island.
The first thing we need to do is find a place to eat. Along the road is a restaurant which offers seafood. I am in the mood for fish soup and a glass of white wine. It is not always possible to buy wine by the glass. You either buy a tiny airplane size, a 350 or 750ml bottle. We ask the girl to save the cork so we can take the bottle with us. The price of the entire meal is less than what we pay for the entire bottle of wine in the liquor store at home.

We continue to Ancud and find a wonderful cabin on a hill at the edge of town, with a view of Canal Chacao. It’s perfect. Fridge, stove, microwave, large TV, well kept and clean, very clean. I actually feel at home here and look forward to preparing a meal, that’s not from the back seat of the car with plastic plates but from a real kitchen counter, on glass plates.

We want to take advantage of the afternoon and drive to the northwest tip of the island where we have some spectacular views. (Sorry, no pictures). We come upon a tiny, privately owned museum, with a skeleton of a giant whale, cotton stuffed sea otters, dolphins, shells, rocks and many prehistoric items. The road side is adorned with all sorts of plants, there is so much green. That is to be expected, because according to the locals, it rains here 370 days out of the year.
The sky is clearing up and the wind dies down a bit. I am ready for a nice brisk walk all by myself. We enjoy a quiet evening in our little cabin.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Isla Grande of Chiloé is South America's largest island. Divided by the peaks of the Coastal Range, Chiloé's eastern and western coasts are two worlds apart. To the west is a wilderness of endless beaches, dune habitat, and temperate rainforests, much of it protected in one of Chile's most forgotten national parks. To the east are the scattered islands of the Chiloé archipelago, sheltered from Pacific storms, intensely cultivated, home to a traditional culture of subsistence farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen.

The Jesuit order made this corner of the earth their special responsibility, erecting schools and over two hundred elegant wooden churches, nine of which are protected as national monuments.

With the limited time we have, we need to make a decision which places we want to see. It would have been so much more enjoyable if the sun would have been shining, but I guess we’ll have to create our own sunshine. We continue south to Castro, only stopping for a short period in Dalcahue to visit the church. The heavy rain makes it less appealing to visit the town.

Castro is characterized by its fleets of yellow fishing boats and distinctive palafito houses built on stilts above the tides. I wonder if this is what Newfoundland looks like.
It’s the perfect size of city. Only three or four long streets, running parallel with the eastern coastline and a fair number if side streets.

As we walk by the many restaurants, we here typical music from this area, accompanied by harmonica and drum. It sounds familiar, I try not to listen to the words, but more to the tune and the instruments and realize that this music is heard in other coastal villages, such as the Maritimes in Canada and likely in Ireland. It must have been brought by the sailors from Europe in the early days.

The sun comes out between 2 and 3 pm. It seems to be the norm here and it may be a good idea to schedule our days according to the weather. All of a sudden the coast and the mountains look so much more attractive.

After having checked where we will need to board the ferry tomorrow morning and finding a hotel only two blocks away from the dock, we drive to the west coast to visit the Chiloe National Park at Actao. A beautiful tropical area, with lots of green and lots of colour.

The long walk along the dunes does us good, but we need to turn back to Castro.
If we would have gone south another 100 kilometers, we wold have come to the end of Route 5. The main route south, which starts at the top of the United States, north of Seattle (known as the I5) all the way down through central America and ending in Quellon; The end of the road.