Going Further South: Chiloe

Palafitos homes in Castro, Chiloe

Back in the middle of March, we had Axel and Patricia's daughter Mayra and her fiancé Felipe over for lunch. They are both working on their doctorates at UC Berkeley. In addition to being fun to hang out with, they provided us with a wealth of ideas of how to spend our month in Chile. Our other house trades have been to much smaller countries easily navigated by the traded car. But Chile is the longest country in the world at 2,600 miles, with no part being more than 186 miles wide. So it was clear we would be limited in how much ground we could cover in the car. Due to it being winter there were some areas we could eliminate (Patagonia) so that helped narrow the choices. They zeroed us in on two options that would be within 2 hours flying time and introduced us to Sky Airlines which offers very cheap fares for these within Chile flights. 

On Thursday we headed off on our first trip - to Puerto Montt, a 90 minute flight south. We started by using Uber from here to the Santiago airport. We had heard lots of negatives about the taxis and Axel said they prefer Uber. We ended up with a delightful driver, his second day with Uber. He spoke English and explained that he initially learned it from watching Friends on TV, then officially studied it in college while pursuing his engineering degree. After an on time and quick flight, we picked up our rental car (not so quick and easy inspite of reserving in advance). 

One of the things we quickly learned upon our arrival in Chile was how to order bottled mineral water - bubbly (con gas) or still (sin gas). We didn't realize we needed to specify our gas order with the rental car. We headed off south on our 3 hour drive to Castro, Chiloe Island and noticed we only had a quarter tank of gas. Not a big deal except there were NO gas stations to be found. We continued on assuming we would pass one since we were on the major north/south highway. At one point we saw what looked like the international symbol for gas pump so we exited the freeway only to discover that it was instead the international symbol for toll gate. That meant still no gas PLUS paying the toll to get back on the freeway.  I finally found a map we had picked up at the airport which showed where there would be some gas stations and it seemed the only one in our path would be just before we loaded on to the car ferry. With relief, we reached the ferry launch  at Pargua only to find out that the map was incorrect. No gas station and we were pretty close to empty. 

At least the ferry crossing wouldn't use up gas! 

The ferry ride took about 30 minutes, in VERY thick fog to cross the canal between the mainland of Chile and Isla Grande de Chiloe.

You can barely make out another ferry in the distance.

All bundled up. It was the coldest we have been so far. 

Once off the ferry, we held our breath but made it, on fumes, to a Shell station in the first city of Ancud. With a full tank of gas we were finally able to relax and enjoy. The fog lifted and we were treated to a view of  rolling hills dotted with sheep and cattle. 

We arrived at our destination -  Castro, the largest city and capitol of  Chiloe.  We had booked what turned out to be a  very spacious and interesting (in terms of function, design and architecture) hotel/spa/casino on the bay. While sitting in the lobby you could hear zen, meditative music in one ear and Frank Sinatra in the other. 

This area is known for its wooden churches, and its  textiles. The hotel was a stunning combination of wood and wool. 

Given our full day of travel,  we decided to stay put and  eat at the hotel restaurant . We used the opportunity to taste compare  Peruvian and Chilean Pisco Sours. At least at this place, the Chilean used lemon and the Peruvian used lime. Both good!

And of course, more fish...

The winter days are even shorter here than in Santiago, which resulted in an 8:30 sunrise breakfast overlooking the water. Same view  as from our hotel room. Jim had gone for a massage the night before, and I enjoyed a  hot stone massage after breakfast prior to heading off to explore Castro. 

Chiloe is actually an archipelago, with the Isla Grande being its largest island.  At the end of the archipelago is the northern end of Patagonia. In pre-Columbian times it was inhabited by the Chono, and later the Mapuche people. I had a particular interest in the area as I have been reading  sabelle Allende's book Maya's Notebook (recommended by Mayra when she was over  for lunch back in March), the bulk of which takes place in Chiloe. Great book for any of you that like to read fiction.

Our first stop was the view of the Palafitos, homes constructed of local woods, brightly painted, on stilts along the edge of Fiordo Castro. 

Our hotel is in the background, just across the water. 

We spent the morning walking around Castro, a picturesque fishing village with shops, restaurants,  marketplaces, etc.  While it is a tourist stop, it is also just their busy town and mostly we saw locals out shopping, dealing with the tasks of the day. We are definitely here off season!

We enjoyed that even the vegetable market incorporated the local textile arts. 

In the center of town. as in most, is the church: Iglesias San Francisco.  A UNESCO protected building, it is an extraordinary example of the local craftsmanship . It is constructed entirely from native woods. The two bell towers were used for decades to guide ships arriving at the port and remain protected as the city's highest structures. 

The interior is also all made entirely  from wood.

As we headed out of Castro to begin our drive back to the ferry we tried to visit the Museo de Arte Moderno Chiloe. 

It was, unfortunately closed for two weeks, but we enjoyed the few outdoor sculptures. 

Remember the dog sculpture below because at some point we need to do a post about dogs in Chile . 

Before getting on the ferry we decided to have lunch in Ancud - figured we should co tribute a bit more to their economy after they rescued us from our nearly empty gas tank. 

I  only post this photo of the hotel restaurant where we ate because, later that evening, I finished reading Maya's Notebook. And there, in the last few pages, was a reference to this exact spot!

 We arrived back at the ferry with a bit more visibility for the return trip.

And Jim was able to "drive" the next thirty minutes in his favorite driving position!

It was an easy drive from there to  Puerto Varas, which is about 25 minutes north of the Puerto Montt airport, in the Lake District.  Mostly a summer resort other than skiing about an hour away, we arrived at our winter lodge, Hotel des Cumbres. 

And that is where we were until Monday...details and gorgeous views to follow.