Chiloe Island

 On Monday, March 13th, we got on the bus and rode to the ferry to Chiloe Island, the largest island completely in Chile (Tierra del Fuego is largely, but is shared with Argentina), arriving at Chacao.

There, Ingrid led us on a walk with plaques explaining the odd Chiloe mythology, with various bizarre creatures explaining certain quirks of nature, including human nature.  The tide was mostly out, and, in addition to a flock of black-necked swans, we saw a crowd of black vultures, attracted by the corpse of some small animal (a baby seal?).

We walked into town.  On the plaza, people were selling crafts at tables, while several craft shops were open, around the church.  

Then we got on the bus and went to Castro, the largest town on the island.  We checked in at our hotel, Enjoy Chiloe Hotel de la Isla, part of a casino complex a mile-and-a-half south of town.  We had lunch at the hotel restaurant (not great).

Our large room had a nice view across a little bay to downtown Castro.

Back on the bus, on our way downtown, we stopped at an overlook to view some of the houses on stilts (palafitos) for which Castro is famous, as well as getting a look back at our hotel.

What Chiloe is really known for is the 16 wooden churches that are UNESCO World Heritage sites, like no churches anywhere else.  Their design was influenced by the island's boatbuilding tradition.  We visited the church of San Francisco, on the plaza in Castro, built between 1910 and 1912.

We had some time to wander the plaza.

Then we drove to nearby Nercon to see another of the UNESCO churches.

That evening, we walked down the road from the hotel to have dinner at Cafe Veliche.  Not bad; not great.