This past Tuesday, the 16th of September, I went to Puerto Montt and the island of Chiloé in the southern part of Chile. I was lucky enough to stay with locals that I met through friends.
Puerto Montt reminded me quite a lot of Alaska, many of the houses looked like cabins or wooden shacks, with wood shingles on the outside. When I went to Chiloé, my friend told me that on the island the shingles were traditionally made from the Alerce Cypress. This tree is now endangered. Almost everyone has a wood burning stove in their house for heating, which in turn created a quite interesting exterior landscape of small, shingled, misshapen houses with smokestacks billowing out of them. The town has a very frontier like feel to it.
left: the pier at Puerto Varas, sister city of Puerto Montt
right: Rotary Women’s Comittee of Puerto Varas
While there I went to the Saltos Río Petrohué, which are rapids near the Volcano Osorno. It was nice to spend some time outdoors breathing fresh air after being in the city for so long. I was struck by how similar landscapes can be…the saltos could easily have been in northern Michigan (save the volcano and Andean mountains in the background) or in the northwest United States.
Saltos Río Petrohué with Marta, in the background is Volcano Osorno
next to the river at Saltos Río Petrohué
Puerto Montt happens to be a main access point for traveling to Chiloé, a series of islands with one Isla Grande or Main Island. On the 18th I went to Ancud, Chiloé. Ancud is the first city reached by Puerto Montt in the northern part of the Main Island. I had to take a bus for an hour or so to get there, and part of the journey was spent aboard a ferryboat carrying the bus to the island. In Ancud I stayed with a former classmate of my friend Goyo, Sebastián. He was visiting his parents’ for the holidays and he and his parents were all nice enough to let me spend time with them. His mother Danitza makes excellent seafood!
Sebastián showed me around Ancud - former military canons from the Spanish invasion of the island, the dock and some other small sites of interest. Many things were closed because of the holidays, so the town was very quiet. In the evening we went to the town ramada or fonda, which is a type of shelter with eucalyptus branches with various Chilean dishes, desserts and drinks sold underneath. There were also games for about 100 pesos each.
Chilote landscape in Ancud
The 19th I went to Castro, the capital of Chiloé, to poke around before I had to catch my bus in Puerto Montt that evening. Castro was also a little low-key because of the holidays, I walked down on the river front, went to the artisan fair and looked at the woolen goods typical of the region. There I also found some smoked shellfish..I can’t wait to make stew with them!
left: the waterfront in Castro, Chiloé
right: the Cathedral in Castro
You can see more pictures of this trip here.
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