Chiloé: The Mystical Island off of Chile

After seeing so many dome cabins we finally stayed in one in Parque Tantauco, Chiloé

On Christmas day (yes, we are still catching up on posts) we planned to ferry to the island of Chiloé. As this was Christmas, and South America as a whole is a very religious continent, we had concerns about the schedule, which is only twice a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays). So not being able to ferry over would have completely thrown off our plans, but luckily not only did the ferry depart as scheduled, but it also ended up only being a four hour ferry that was advertised as six hours. A Christmas miracle you might say?!?!

Fishing boats just outside the port of Quellon

We arrived on Chiloé's southern shores in the town of Quellon. Travel books stated that there was not much to see and that the town overall was not very safe due to the economic downturns from multiple salmon busts and booms over the last 10+ years. Did you know Chile happens to be one of the largest salmon producing countries in the world? So, we stocked up on produce (incredibly all the local produce shops were open on Christmas) and hit the road to the Parque Tantauco a park founded by Sebastian Piñera, both a former, and again current, president of Chile.

This park has two entrances. We went to the north entrance as the southern entrance is only accessible by boat. We should note that this road to get into the park from the highway is ~25km, the WORST road we have driven on to date, and it easily took us over an hour. There were numerous points where we got out of the car, moved some rocks (read mini-boulders) out of the way and took deep breaths as Z skillfully maneuvered the little car that could (thank goodness we fixed all our car issues beforehand). We had booked a little dome for the three of us and enjoyed making dinner staring out at the lake and watching the sunset.

Taking in the fresh air

A quick hike just outside of the Chaiguata Campground

Wood heated hot tub overlooking the lake

Not a bad spot for a BBQ

Our dome to the left

The following day, we hiked the first section of the multi-day trail that connects the northern and southern sections of the park. We hiked to the first cabin and back. Here we saw the magellanic woodpecker which was super beautiful and fun to see, if only we had seen this clip beforehand we would have tried communicating....

Making our way to the backcountry cabin

Heard it first, then spotted it through the brush

It was a very curious animal, stopping to inspect us whenever we made too much noise

After leaving the park, we drove to Castro, the capital city of the island. Chiloé is known for their traditional construction methods using the local wood. In particular homes and churches were, and still today, decorated with intricately designed wooden shingles. In addition, historic buildings were completely constructed by using joints and unions fixed with wooden dowels, using little to no screws and nails. The most popular and enduring way to see this incredible architecture is by traveling along the Route of the Churches to the 16 UNESCO designated structures.

Castro's coastline is dotted with homes on stilts

The difference between high and low tide is drastic

One of Chiloé's 16 UNESCO designated churches

Just some of the many Chiloé shingle patterns (Photo credit: Chilling in Chile)

Back in Castro we found a house with a slide "escape" from the 2nd floor!

Driving the church route was possibly more exciting for us than the churches themselves. At least after church #1 since they all seemed very similar and many were closed. But the drive to each little town was beautiful and provided new and gorgeous views to enjoy!

We also took a trip to Parque Nacional Chiloé where heard there is a great walk along the beach to Cole Cole. On the drive to the park we saw a pudu (miniature deer native only to Chile)!! The park ranger told us the walk is better as a 2 day hike, which unfortunately we didn't have the time for and A's knees were a bit sore. Instead, we walked along the beach and even though it was a chilly, overcast, windy day it was still beautiful. The wind caused the sand to blow on this seemingly never ending empty beach in a very mesmerizing way.

Abstract spider web, definitely want to find out what type of spider makes this and why

After Castro, we headed up north to Ancud where we we spent more time on the coast and enjoyed some local nightlife (we went out for some beers and music that was stuck in our head all night after and forgotten by morning). And, more importantly, we went to go see some PENGUINS! The boat trip in Punihuil was short and sweet and provided ample penguin watching without the penguin smell!!

Seek and you shall find

Debating which one is going to jump in first

And, with that, we left Chiloé, and headed back to Mainland Chile. Sadly Yosaif left us here. It was an incredible adventure together, but the show must go on.

Packed and ready for many hours of travel

This leg of the trip was 6 days, 560km (350mi) and here is our map: