Thursday, April 10th, to Saturday April 12th, 2025 - Chiloe Island, Chile - But When DO we Get to Patagonia?!

 

Punihill Wildlife Reserve, Chiloe Island

Chiloe Island means 'land of seagulls' in the language of the original Huilliche inhabitants. We had driven several hours south of Puerto Varas, taken a ferry near Puerto Montt, and arrived at the Punihill Wildlife Reserve. 

Human habitation on Chiloe has been recorded from 7,000 years ago, which is impressive, but we are just 70 miles south of a significant archeological site called Monte Verde II, which has been dated back to at least 14,000 years ago. The reason I mention this, is because its discovery in the 1970's turned theories of human migration to the Americas on its head. Prior to the discovery of Monte Verde II, the accepted theory was that humans had crossed the Bering Strait from Asia as hunter gatherers, following herds as they travelled south. The oldest North American site, in Clovis, New Mexico is dated at 13,000 years, which is 1,000 years after this South American site. The Monte Verde II discovery suggests that the 20 to 30 people who lived here were maritime-adapted hunter-gatherer fisher people and it is proposed that they had followed the coastline from the north, travelling by boat, which the theorists suggest would be faster than on foot.

Punihill Wildlife Reserve, Chiloe Island

Those early seafaring humans must have been rugged mariners. There is nothing between here and New Zealand, 5,200 miles to the west. The moisture coming off the ocean drops 63" of rain per year and the internet says that visitors should expect grey skies and drizzle. Our itinerary said 'if the weather permits we'll sail out to search for Humbolt and Magellanic penguins as well as sea otters, sea lions, seals and a variety of marine birds'.

Punihill Wildlife Reserve, Chiloe Island

As you see, the ocean conditions were pretty rough, even in this sheltered cove. In addition to the grey skies and occasional drizzle, we had an invigorating wind, blowing along the beach. 

Punihill Wildlife Reserve, Chiloe Island

The boats were beached!

Peruvian Pelican & Black Cormorants

There was some disappointment that our outing on the boat would not take place. 

We also learned that the penguins have left this area already and will return in the spring.

Juvenile Brown Hooded Gull

Oh, but the birds were happy, soaring on the uplifts or hanging out on the rocks.

Dark-Bellied Cinclodes

I had a lot of fun looking for birds and sometimes managing to gat a decent photograph. I generally don't seek out birds, as they move so quickly. Nature photographers have my admiration, as they must exercise great patience and tolerate lots of mistakes! This was one of the few times on the trip I had my rain gear on, but more for the wind than the rain. Every now and then there were sprinkles, so I had a plastic bag to protect my camera.

Kelp Geese Male (White) and Female (Dark)

We could see the white male kelp goose off in the distance, but my 250mm leans was not quite sufficient to get a decent photo. When I processed it in my laptop, I was able to see the female (same level to the right of the male), but the real fun was to find there were also two flightless steamer ducks on the lower level.

Flightless Steamer Ducks

As their name suggests, these ducks can't fly. As they move through the water, they move their wings as well as their feet, looking like a paddle steamer to the people who named them. I really enjoyed seeing them move around the beach and felt sorry for their inability to fly.

Castro - First Stop, Laundry

After lunch, we had to fly on - an hour or more to the capital of Chiloe, Castro. Out first stop was the laundry. This one had a sense of humor. In addition to this clothesline painted on the wall, there was a sign saying that the only thing they don't clean is the conscience! The sign then said 'don't insist'. I'm not sure what was meant by that, but I liked the idea that a customer's conscience can not be cleaned there!

Church of San Francisco, Castro

One of Chiloe Island's claims to fame is the wooden churches that have been recognized by UNESCO world heritage for representing an outstanding form of ecclesiastical wooden architecture. They total 70 structures in all throughout the island, and are said to represent a fusion of indigenous and European cultural traditions, along with a clear example of the early settlers skillfully utilizing the resource which was abundantly available - wood. 

Ceiling Above the Chancel, Church of San Francisco, Castro

Europeans first arrived here from north-east Spain - a region called Galicia on the Atlantic ocean. Castro, the capital, was founded in 1567. The Galicians are famous for their fishing, boat building and seafaring culture. Like the first indigenous settlers 6,500 years prior, it was a good match and these maritime skills were applied when they were joined by the Jesuits in 1608 to build the churches for evangelizing the indigenous people of the area.

Church of San Francisco, Castro

This particular structure, Church of San Francisco in Castro, was built in 1912. The original church was built shortly after Castro was founded in the 1500's, but that church and many others burned down through the years. This final ne-classical iteration is built of wood, but is clad with galvanized iron. Because of the salty winds that frequent the area, it must be painted frequently. It was painted yellow and purple for Pope Frances's visit in 2018. Our guide said the 'powers that be' had chosen the ecclesiastical purple, but the people didn't like it, so they added the yellow.

Madonna & Child, Church of San Francisco, Castro

Another feature inside the church, apart from the beautiful woodwork, was that many of the statues were clothed. This was not a lenten practice, but is always present. It was something I had not seen before and I found it fascinating. Googling the 'why' suggested it's just local custom and may have a traditional folk art element.

Priest & Child, Church of San Francisco, Castro

 There were a n umber of statues of Christ being held  by priests - in this one, Christ was clothed in a knitted romper. (At least I presumed it was Christ - perhaps it's just a regular child, but I found it charming, especially with the peace lilies in the priest's other hand.)

Nercon Church, Castro

The other UNESCO recognized church that we visited was about four miles away, and represents a more traditional style of architecture than the other one we saw. I like its simplicity of style and unpainted exterior. This is also a structure that was rebuilt around 1890 of larch and cypress. Due to the unfavorable weather, additional restoration was undertaken, in 2012, which has led to difficulties and controversies about sourcing the wood.

Nercon Church - An Upside Down Boat?

The inside showed very clearly the connection to he maritime heritage of this are. The ceiling of the nave was constructed pretty much like the hull of an  upside down boat!

Nercon Church - Ribs of the 'Boat' Ceiling

A walk through the belfry allowed us to see how the ceiling had been built. You can see the ribs of he 'boat' that makes the ceiling.

Nercon Church - Clothed Statuary

In addition to the same clothed statuary we had seen before, we also saw another distinguishing feature of this church - that the pillars had been painted to resemble marble.

Nercon Church - Archangel Michael Slays the Devil

Both churches had rather spectacular statues of the archangel Saint Michael slaying the devil. This one is carved out of a single piece of wood.

View From My Hotel Room

That evening I developed a scratchy throat, and by morning knew that I had lost the battle of zinc & Vitamin C vs. the cold. Our itinerary that day was to experience life as lived by a local couple in a small town called Rilan. I knew we would be in their home and I thought it would be rather rude to share my germs with them, so I had a day of rest in which to contemplate the changing skies and water levels through the window.

Fall Colors Across the Bay - Castro

Of course, I worked on processing photos while staying in, ordered room service and although I was disappointed to miss the day's outing, had time for contemplation also. Which takes us to the question of Patagonia, which had been my desired destination on this trip. The image I had in my mind of what that meant was that I would be seeing towering snow clad mountains, fiords, glaciers and remoteness. Where have we been on this journey so far?

Patagonia

In fact, as you see from the map, Patagonia extends from north of Bariloche, all the way to the end of Tierra del Fuego to the south. Thus far we have been in the northern part of Patagonia, but my patience will soon pay off, as we will be flying south to Punta Arenas next, to experience whatever it is that southern Patagonia has to offer.

Supercontinent Gondwanaland - Broke up 200 million Years Ago

I was intrigued to discover that Patagonia is an 'add on' to South America. It had been part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland, which broke up 200 million years ago. The piece of Gondwanaland marked with the red 'X' had been part of the Antarctic, and ended up as part of South America. It is no wonder that the area has a history of volcanos and earthquakes. In 1960, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded occurred 400 miles north. Chiloe received a tsunami that killed 200. We were told that earthquakes are common, so I was pleased that we didn't get to experience one.

Palafitos - Stilt Houses - Castro

I was glad that I could see from my window some of the stilt houses, or palafitos, that Castro is also known for. This makes great sense for a fishing community, allowing people to have a boat parked in their 'front yard'. I did note, that it is a 'big' tide - the fisherman would have to time their comings and goings carefully. It seems that they now also serve as accommodation for tourists, so there might be less functionality to their design.

We had learned that salmon is a major export from Chile and there are salmon farms here. Our guide said that the Chileans are concerned about the 10% tariff that has recently been applied to their salmon exports to the US. Other major experts are copper and lithium from further north in Chile, which she said have been spared the tariffs as of now.

Palafitos - Stilt Houses - Castro

The following day, my rest had paid off....my cold was short-lived. We stopped and looked at another group of stilt houses as we left town.

Ferry Back to the Mainland Across Chacao Channel

We headed north again, taking the ferry back to the mainland for the Puerto Montt airport. There were many large vehicles on the boat - the white truck you see on the right with the funny round bumps on top was transporting salmon.

Salmon Truck

In order to preserve freshness, the water must be aerated and cooled  before the product is processed in Puerto  Montt.

Chacao Channel Bridge - Come Back to se it in 2028

Transporting salmon and other products and merchandise will be much easier in 2028, when the Chacao Channel Bridge will be completed. When finished, it will be the longest suspension bridge in South America. While it might help commerce, many of the locals are concerned about the challenge it is expected to present to preserving the island's unique cultural identity.

Caracara Hitches a Ride

We were able to see dolphins and an occasional seal or sea lion, but my lens wasn't fast enough to catch those distant and brief sightings. Instead, we got a caracara hitching a ride and snacking on something it had scavenged!

Jellyfish

My best marine photo was this lovely jellyfish that was floating close to the surface of the water.

Next, instead of floating through water like the jellyfish, we will float through the clouds as we head south to Punta Arenas! 

Don't miss it!