Jan 30, 2013 - Isla Chiloe and Puerto Chacabuco

Internet service in this part of the world sucks, but here goes... It is difficult to begin this particular entry because we enjoyed these two days, but there is not very much to say if you don’t like churches, local markets and hiking. On Sunday, we anchored off Castro, Isla de Chiloe in the northern Chilean archipelago. I use the word northern in a very limited sense. This is the largest of the islands that form the archipelago beginning just south of Valparaiso/Santiago and continuing south to Tierra del Fuego. Castro is the “capital”...

Feb 7, 2011 - Cucao on Chiloe

Decided to move to the Pacific coast of Chiloe to the small hamlet of Cucao. It consists of about 10 or 12 buildings. To say the least the setting is rural. The Pacific is about a 15 minute walk from the `main`street; I mean the ONLY street. Our Hostal Fogon, was a quite comfortable accommodation for such a small `town`. Embarked on a 8 hour hike of the Sendero de Chile - I guess the equivalent of the Appalachian Trail in the U.S., though I don`t remember hiking such rudimentary trails since Boy Scout days ! The view from the top of the...

Feb 5, 2011 - Chiloe, Chile

As we made our way up through Argentinian Patagonia, the further north we went the further we felt removed from the Antarctic experience; not just due to time removed, but the essence of the soul diminished. Bariloche, though a nice town, was a true indicator of our return to ´civilization´. Not quite sure we really wanted to return. When we arrived in Villa Angostura, though not physically far from Bariloche, we felt a return to nature. San Martin de los Andes reaffirmed that comfort of return - though yet still on the ´suburbs´. Our entry...

Jan 7, 2010 - the captains dinner

Well it was our last day on Skorpious II and it was a good one. Micheline, Joel and I went ashore to find a fix for this bloody machine and to obtain a charger for my phone in Castro. We failed to find both but I did buy a pair of Chilean slippers and did some shopping. Back on board Joel and I dissected this device and got it working again, but lost the patient on closing up. The table was covered in screws all laid out in the position they were taken from in the computer. Never mind - plan B - whatever that is. I have just come in from...

Jan 5, 2010 - a small island

Today wee have visited the small island of Quellon, having faced the crossing back over the golfo colorado(?) at 8 this morning. It’s a tiny place and if you blink you miss the high street. There were however two internet cafes and I managed to lock myself out of both my AOl and Facebook accounts! Not satisfied with that I have managed to lock my voicemail account too. We have been out of communication for days and I blow it as soon as we are in semi civilization. Not much to write about this fishing village and not much to see. Two...

Jun 22, 2008 - Chile, Chiloe

After no sleep we jumped on a bus early the next morning, and headed south. The bus stopped at the river where we boarded a ferry ride to the island Chiloe. The island is the largest in Chile and perched on the edge of the glacial area. The ferry ride was really cool, we got to see lots of birds and some seals playing in the water. It was starting to get colder being so far south and we rugged up in beanies and snow jackets. Later that afternoon we arrived in a small fishing town and celebrated with a beer looking over the ocean. The next...

Jan 12, 2006 - L'île de Chiloe

Nous traversons la baie de Puerto Montt pour arriver sur l'Ile de Chiloé et lá des otaries nous acompagnent! c'est genial de les voir sauter a cóté du ferry! Arrivés sur l'Ile nous souhaitons aller a Chonchi, petite ville de pécheurs, puis partir randonner 2 jours dans le parc national. Nous voila a Chonchi! notre hospedaje est super: notre chambre donne sur le mer c'est vraiment cool! Aprés une nuit de repos nous voulons visiter l'Ile Lemuy, en face de Chonchi, malheureusement nous nous levons trop tard pour le bus et nous decidons de...

Apr 3, 2005 - It´s a dog's life en Chiloe

The dogs have it good in chile but even better in Chiloe. Big and small, blends of every description, they have the run of the villages on this beautiful island. At first we thought they were strays as there were dogs everywhere in the streets - but they are very well fed and pretty content to lie in a comfy patch of sun. Instead they all seem to have homes but are free to wander during the day and then come home and howl at the moon at night time.... Chiloe is a beautiful part of Chile and we really enjoyed our four days there. It is an...

Jan 22, 2005 - Beach hiking on Chiloe (scrabble 3 - 1)

This is most likely our last overnight hike for the trip. We caught a ferry across from Chaiten to the island of Chiloe and again, quite different countryside, rolling hills with lots of little farms and houses and towns. Big salmon farming industry and lots of shell fish here - which makes a wonderful change from argentinian diet of beef, ham and cheese. Stayed a night in town of Castro and then caught a bus to the west coast on the Pacific ocean for a walk up a long flat grey sand beach. Lots of locals fishing in the surf with nets,...

Jan 15, 2005 - Chiloe

Can't believe we have already been here over two weeks now! Its Saturday and we are have a rest and catch-up day after a 4-day trip to Chiloe to do some trekking in their National Park on the West coast. Chiloe is a large island to the south west of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas where we are now staying. It was about a 4 1/2 hour bus trip to Castro in central Chiloe and another 2 hours further on by local bus to get to the park. A ferry service links Chiloe to the Chilean mainland, and this was a fantastic service that must run 24 hours per...

Dec 22, 2004 - Chiloé

We arrived in Chiloé yesterday midday. Chiloé is an island off the coast of southern Chile and according to the guide book has a very distinct identity to mainland Chile. We probably haven't been here long enough to really notice that, but it sure is a very cute place. We're in the largest town, Castro, which isn't that large and spent yesterday walking around town and today we went to a little village on an island off the main island. It is a very cute place, absolutely packed with very pretty wooden churches. It looks a little bit like...