Blogs from Castro, Chiloé Island, Los Lagos, Chile, South America

Chiloé (07/08/2018 - 12/08/2018) My final stop was the unique and spiritual island of Chiloé, in the Los Lagos Region of Chile. This lush, emerald green, magical island is home to palafitos (cute houses on stilts), adorable wooden churches (14 are Unesco World heritage sites), tejuelas (wood shingle houses), and the delicious curanto (a meaty, seafood and potato stew). Chiloé has a interesting spiritual culture. Just think of ghost ships, witch craft, and forest creatures. I headed straight to Castro, the capital of Chiloé; where I stayed with José, his lovely mum (Sonia), and his crazy dog (Duke). It was day 1 and José took me to work with him. Sounds boring, huh? Not if you work on a boat! We drove to Choén (with me squeezed inbetween him and his work mate) and took his ... read more

die bucht vor den fenstern des frühstücksraums liegt glatt und sonnenbestrahlt vor uns, darüber ein breiter regenbogen - dank des nieselig feuchten wetters sehen wir hier mehrmals täglich riesig breite rainbows, wie als hätte sie ein kind gemalt und quer über die landschaft gespannt. mit dem mietwagen geht es heute zuerst nach castro und dann weiter nach achao. markus legt sämtlichen machoismus ab und lässt mich die gut 250 kilometer quer über insel und fähren selbst fahren - wahrscheinlich auch, um die fotomotive besser erkennen zu können… entlang kurvig-hügeliger straßen mit fraglichen verkehrsregeln - die ampeln sind fast alle ausgefallen und die überholverbots-schilder lassen uns beide im unklaren - sausen wir an kuhfarmen, saftig grünen feldern, kleinen siedlungen in der bekannt flimsigen bauart und zahlreichen regenbögen vorbei. in castro angekommen, empfängt uns - überraschung! ... read more

Hi all, After about 33 hours of bus we finally made our way to Chiloe island. We spent our first night in Ancud and headed to Castro the next day. It has been a very big change in scenery and here on Chiloe both me and Carmen felt that we could almost be at home looking at the landscape - at times it has been hard to think we are in Chile and we could as well be in the english country side. What you my not know about Chiloe is that it is home to over 150 wooden churches mainy declared World Heritage sites by Unesco. Some of the typical traditions of the island also involve moving entire houses from one place to another by "simply" cutting off the wooden pillards that hold them off ... read more

Bizarre hein, de parler du premier jour de l’automne ici ! En tout cas, on aura bien eu droit à la pluie (quand même !) mais par très peu au final. Comme c’est la basse saison et les services réduits, le plus simple pour nous dans le temps imparti est de prendre une excursion avec une agence. Heureusement, nous ne sommes que 6 au total avec le guide, et c’est une journée très sympa où nous avons vu plein de choses différentes dans une ambiance très décontractée. Nous commençons par l’église de Cercon (malheureusement en rénovation) puis le village de Chomchi, un port bien tranquille avec encore une église en bois bien caractéristique. Dans le temps libre, visite d’une maison typique chilotte et du « musée de l’accordéon » ( !) tenu par un passionné qui ... read more

It’s Sunday and we’ve arrived in the protected waters off of Castro Island, our tender port for the day. We arrive in the Lido just after 6:30 to discover that the main buffet is not yet open (we later learn, that unlike yesterday, it opens at 7:00 AM today; although, the continental buffet is now serving. Sharon gets her chocolate croissant and I get some rolls, slices of ham and slices of cheese with some grapefruit juice. It’s our third morning at sea, and evidently most passengers have remained healthy, so we’re allowed to serve ourselves from the buffet. The hand washing machines still seem quite novel to us, you stick your hands in both holes, reaching in up to your forearm, then after a bit some tepid water begins to do an oscillating spray of ... read more