Ancud, Isla Chiloe, Chile
July 22, 2013 – Today we decided to hit the towns where many Germans immigrated to. We left Osorno and traveled south to visit Puerto Octay and Fruitillar. There were charming old Bavarian style buildings there. These small towns are in the southern portion of the lakes district and along the shores of Lago Llanquihue. It was earlier in the morning and many of the shops were closed, but we got to see the town and great views of Vulcan Osorno and Vulcan Calbuco across the lake. We worked our way south through more beautiful countryside.
Our drive today took us down south to the archipelago of Chiloe. We had to take a 30 minute ferry across the Canal de Chacao to get to there. The ferry boats are a lot smaller than I thought they would be….smaller than the ones we took in Washington State. The ferries run continuously throughout the day to all of the little islands all around Chiloe. I was not looking forward to the ferry as I was afraid that I would get seasick. It was an uneventful trip across the channel though.
We drove directly to the hotel in the town of Ancud which is directly across the channel. It was really too early to check in but we wanted to leave our bags. The hostess at the hotel was a very nice lady. Her name was Minerva and we immediately hit it off. Our usual dialog when we arrived to a new location, or a shop was to greet them and then tell them that our Spanish was not very good… Minerva laughed and told me that she did not speak a bit of English either. We were able to communicate with her what we wanted to see and she recommended which way and where we should go. Our room was charming and plain, but it was perfect.
We decided to head a little south to look at some of the many wooden churches that were built by Jesuit Missionaries. These missionaries came to the island to evangelize and convert the people of Chiloe the indigenous Mapuche. The churches of Chiloé are made entirely in native timber with extensive use of wood shingle The churches were built from these materials to resist Chiloé Archipelago’s humid and rainy oceanic climate. They built these churches in the 18th and 19th century and many of them still stand today. Some of them are currently being restored and some of them are really deteriorating. We spent a lot of time on dirt roads trying to find them but it was so worth it. Such great history and so beautiful!
When we came back to the hotel later that evening, Minerva was there to greet us. We communicated with her that we would like for a taxi to come to pick us up and wanted her to recommend a good place for dinner that represented Chilote cuisine. The taxi showed up 15 minutes later and this driver spoke not a bit of English either, but Minerva spoke to him and he drove us to a location in the downtown area of Ancud. He asked us to wait in the car and he went in and spoke to the owner of the restaurant and then came out 5 minutes later and told us to come into the restaurant with him. It was a cozy and cute place, decorated with many Mapuche cultural items and a lot of wood. He also gave us his business card and phone number so he could come to pick us up when we were ready to go back to the hotel. We had Chilean beer and a great dinner. Wayne chose the salmon and I had Cazuela, which is a soup with a bunch of shellfish in it…there was a mussel in it the size of my hand. Yum. Later our driver came to collect us and we went back to the hotel
It was such a great day…
Comments
The Stockbridge on July 27, 2013
I am guessing that you are back home now since I got a text from Wayne saying that you’re home now. Please go on another trip so I have cool stuff to read every day. I would like to see an additional Blog Page from you guys with a Summary of the trip and favorite locations, etc.. Let me know. Talk soon. Love you guys.
Janet Pignuolo on September 12, 2013
WOW!!! You were in the element of the dear Marge. She would have loved a day of just touring and looking at all the iglesias. Amazing photos.