Next up was the island of Chiloe, so we hopped on a bus, which hopped on ferry.
windy but beautiful (the day, not the face!)
nearing the island.
Our first stop was the small fishing town of Ancud, where we found a cute little cabana...
complete with kitchen...
dining room/living room...
and cute bedroom. luxury!
the view wasn't too bad, either.
sunset at ancud.
odd birth-giving statue.
and very funky tree...
the very non-touristy fishing port.
and nice waterfront walk.
some odd artwork around town - such as this chicken-fish thing.
the bustling main square.
a sea monkey?
seafood soup!
even the poorer, outlying areas of town were still beautiful.
the mama wasn't too sure about me, so i didn't get any closer.
there was nobody around, and nothing to do, which was quite nice.
supposedly the best kuchen in town, except that they were never open when we stopped by...
one day we took a tour out to see the penguin colonies. Marcelo here was our guide.
On the way we stopped at this quirky museum - really just a crazy yard full of “stuff” collected over the years by a very old couple. That's a whale skeleton in the front yard.
kids with whale skeleton.
and pigs, of course.
erik, marcelo and all the stuff.
all the taxidermied creatures were starting to fall apart.
dolphin and pygmie whale skeletons.
and chickens, of course.
this guy looked a lot healthier than everything inside.
marcelo showing off his knowledge of old farm equipment. (he's an ex molliusk diver and fisherman, so an expert on the subject.)
and a close up of that whale skeleton.
wow, what a view...
talor looking good in her penguin-viewing gear.
i opted to go sans-gear, and thus look cold here.
penguins!
lots of penguins! Humboldt and another species whose name i can't recall...
fuzzy mother and newborn colt.
That bus on the port was a fisherman's sandwich shop.
We had a delicious fish lunch here.
Ancud was a quaint, colorful town.
Lots of flowers and german-immigrant shingled houses.
some easter-island type sculptures around town.
with a kitchen we (er...talor) could make meals at home.
sunset from our cabana.
back on the bus...next stop another tiny port town called Chonchi.
everywhere we went on chiloe was green and sunny.
everything was green or in bloom
interesting home...
the mercado, which was more of a restaurant venue than a market.
but it had a great view!
inside the mercado.
and the harbor.
Our hospedaje owner's lazy, crazy dog.
more monkey puzzle trees.
the lovely, tin-sided church.
we took a day trip to chiloe's national park.
that's a big leaf!
local transport systems...
a mini-museum showing how the old-time miners lived back in the day.
we took several short hike through the park. we were so lucky with the weather during our whole stay on the island.
one of the hikes was through a marsh jungle of dense vegetation.
and time for a picnic.
really big leaves.
and flowers everywhere.
this little guy adopted us and guided us for a few miles to the beach.
yes, there is a beach over there...
a beach with cows. odd sight.
a very good guide.
i have no idea what they were doing there...
our happy guide.
a quick, brisk swim.
and then back to chonchi.
break dancing is everywhere, even in chonchi.
impressive.
Nicolas, chonchi's tourism director, who invited us to his lovely home.
his home with a wonderful view.
and his garden.
and his horse, who had a controversy with his dog and broke the dog's leg....
poor Theo, with broken leg.
but he was a sweetheart.
