March 07, 2009
La Grande Isla de Chiloé
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Fishing Boat in Castro  |
Another Fishing Boat  |
Stilt Houses in Castro  |
The Quellon Shore |
Quellon Skyline  |
The Villalobos Family  |
Monday, we took a bus ($8.50 each) from Puerto Varas to Castro, which is in the middle of the island of Chiloé. The four-hour bus journey was slow but steady. With no bridge to island, the bus crossed on a small ferry. The small town is the capital of the island. It has beautiful little port. After moving into El Mirador, a hospedaje overlooking the harbor, we walked along the bay. We wandered through an artisanal market with mostly low-cost woolen goods of moderate quality. The designs were rustic and interesting to me but not to Betty. We continued along the bay until we reached a modern, yet abandoned, museum of an extremely odd design. Then we had a dinner of salmon for me, and a fish soup for Betty. We were tired from the travel and went back to our room to call it an early night.
Like Monday, Tuesday was warm, bright and sunny. We explored a bit of the little town. Most of it can be seen in a few hours. We tried to get information on travel south of Chiloé. We got the general idea that we could travel by boat and bus to the places we wanted to go, but the details were sorely lacking. It was clear to me that all of the people we talked to had at most heard a story of someone traveling to Coyhaique and on to Argentina, but no one had done it or had known someone personally who had made the trip. We were surprised to learn that the only bus company that goes there, does not have a combination bus-boat-bus itinerary, rather their buses drove 100 miles north and crossed into Argentina before heading south. This was hard for me to imagine. We ended again along the bay, enjoying the warmth of the sun. I say this because the nights are cool here, in the mid 40's (6c). It is getting cool enough so that Betty bought a new fleece jacket, because we expect it to get even cooler as we head further south. In the late afternoon we stopped for another seafood meal. This time we had seafood empanadas. Betty did not like them; she just does not like shellfish.
The rain started in the night. It was still raining when we got up on Wednesday morning. Nothing seemed to go right this day. Betty has wanted to see the penguins forever. We knew they were near Ancud. So, we took a bus there only to discover that a whole lot more was involved - not to mention that the rain came even harder. So we decided not try the trip to the islets where the penguins were to be found. Turning around and going back was a sad note. Back in Castro, we were hungry and went to Restaurant Sacho. I had eaten there once before in 2002. The place is lovely and not overly touristic. The food was good. I had the stuffed salmon and Betty had fried Merluza. With the rain still coming we went to our rooms to work puzzles and write and view photos and listen to the radio.
We met a really interesting traveler, Andrea, from Switzerland. We talked for hours about our shared travels. For us she was a wealth of knowledge, because she had just taken much of the route we plan to take to Argentina. The journey will involve 36 hours on a boat with awful seats and no bunks. Then several more bus rides and another ferry crossing. We continued well into the evening. Many of the other guests at El Mirador also came to the dining room to eat and talk. The group was substantially older than one would normally find at a hostel. It was a fun and interesting evening.
On Thursday we traveled two hours by bus to Quellon ($3 each). For the first time we would stay with a Chilean couchsurfing hosts, Carlos and Julia Villalobos. They own a popular phone, internet and game-playing shop. Unfortunately they must work from midday until midnight. Carlos speaks no English but he is funny and has a real spark. We spent a lot of time in the evening talking to Julia, who speaks English quite well and has a very big vocabulary. They worked for seven years in the TicToc preserve in extreme isolation. She became an expert in local wild herbs, fruits and vegetables. She is quite a storyteller. She told us several really good stories about the preserve. She had several UFO stories and they were the best. I just wish that they had included some stories about little green men. If she had any of those she did not share them. It was clear that she has a wonderful imagination. They have two children, Juan Jose and Jose Miguel. They are 13 and eleven years old. The thirteen year-old is on his way to becoming an excellent English speaker. We taught them how to play Rummy, while their parents were at work. Between meeting our hosts and their children, we ate a good lunch of fish and we bought our tickets ($47 each) for the boat that leaves Saturday evening about 10 o'clock.
We got out midday on Friday. We hiked for about an hour-and-a-half. Then we stopped at our hosts' shop. We invited Carlos out for lunch. He decided to drive to the village on Chonchi, about 35 miles away. The drive was beautiful with the lakes and hills of southern Chiloe. The village was an idyllic looking place of older and better quality buildings than Quellon. We had a good meal of seafood. Betty continues to like fish soup. Carlos had grilled congria. I had a crab cake, but it was unlike American crab cakes. Basically it was a bowl of baked crabmeat with a layer of cheese on the top. After lunch we headed back. Along the way, we stopped to visit some land that Carlos is trying to develop. It is beautiful site along a bay with a good length of shoreline. We could see the mountains of the mainland and a volcano. We also saw a large number of birds including the South American black-throated swan. On the land he has built to cabins with water and electricity. It was late when we returned to Quellon. I played cards with Juan Jose. When Julia returned and Betty was already asleep, I talk and talked with Julia until midnight.
Saturday we got ready to leave on the boat to Chacobuco. We bought coffee and bread, Then we made sandwiches. In the afternoon, I uploaded photos to my Flickr photostream. And I prepared this BLOG entry for publication. We will be off to Chacobuco later today.
Fishermen in Castro
