Chiloè

We have been on the Grand Isla de Chiloe for a couple days now and are seeing yet another part of Chile. The trip to the island was by ferry from Chaiten, along the Careterra Austral, to Quellon. As we left Chaiten (about one hour late) on a 4 hour or so trip, we were just past high tide. This put us into port just before low tide. Turns out this is a problem as the ferry was unable to get to the ramp to off-load vehicles so our arrival at 1530 allowed foot passengers to disembark but vehicles did not leave till 2030. Tides are fascinating and relatively predictable but somehow this turn of events appeared to be a shock to the ferry company.  We could have missed something in translation but they acted surprised.  

This late departure naturally lead to an evening trip through the southern part of the island as we had booked a room at Castro about 60 km north.  So although the sun was setting soon we thought we still had some daylight and as we were about to ride the main north-south road we should make good time. As it turned out there was road construction on the first half where traffic took turns through various stretches of road.  As a result we rode most of the trip in the dark so did very little sight-seeing. We arrived at the hotel by 2300 and settled in for the night. 

Wednesday we wandered around Castro a bit, took some pictures and then saddled up to head to Ancud where we had a hotel booked for three nights. Enroute we diverted to the East coast of the island to visit a small town (Quemchi)  and to see a 500 metre foot-bridge to a park on a small island with a church on it. It started to shower while we were on the island and we returned to shore expecting a wet ride to our hotel.

Fortunately the shower passed and we had a pleasant ride in, and through some remarkable navigation and patience, Alex managed to convince the GPS to guide us to our hotel. We wandered around town a bit and as it started to shower again we were convinced to come sit in a local restaurant for supper.

Food has not been very prominent on this trip in that it is not dramatically different. In this restaurant they had a variety of sandwiches which have a generous serving of meat, usually avocado, perhaps mayonnaise or mustard, and a slice of tomato. The sandwich is usually on a shallow bun that is very white and tasty. There was also a variety of seafood dishes with lots of shellfish and crab in this area as well as farmed salmon and various wild species. Often meals are ordered piece by piece although there are completo options as well. The food is good, affordable and generally familiar to our palates. That said we have not eaten shellfish options which is apparently a local speciality. This evening I ordered and h'orderves  was translated on the menu as "crab cake" but was really a crab and cheese soup. This was followed by a white fish (Hake?) which was delicious and unusually for me bone free.

Chiloè is famous for its potatoes with some large number of varieties in various shades of the rainbow.  We have had mashed (served cold), sautéed, deep fried mashed potato balls and boiled.  All were good but generally looked yellowish so we still have some colours to try.

Chiloè is also one of the spots to see penguins in Chile which is part of our three day stay here in Ancud to find a pleasant day to visit. When we awoke this morning (Thursday 30th) and removed our earplugs there was the sound of heavy rain and splashing vehicles. We assumed today was not a penguin day so went shopping for tours. Our tour of choice was full (Austral Adventure) but the owner provided some excellent and enthusiastic advice on things we should see that would be easy by motorbike. By this time the rain had stopped and blue patches of sky were showing up so we set off to see penguins. 

When we arrived on the designated beach there were 30 minute boat trips out to the small islands where the penguin rookeries were. They loaded us into a cart, wheeled it into the water next to the boats and we boarded with dry feet. 

The drivers were expert at keeping a steady boat in a fair swell and maneuvered around so everyone got a good view of the penguins. Our side of the boat even got a good view of a sea otter with a crab in its mouth swim up to one of the islands. Very cool.

Afterward we rode toward town with a diversion down a small road to a secluded beach where although there were fishing boats and some buildings was largely deserted with the exception of some very large flies (horseflies perhaps but the size of big bumblebees).