When we discovered that heading north for our long holiday
weekend was far too expensive for our little budgets, we immediately turned
south to the gem that is the Isla Grande de Chiloé.
Chiloé is a magical land located just off the coast of
southern Chile. With tales of witchcraft and forest gnomes, this conservative
sea culture has a unique and rich history that feeds into its strong sense of
Chilote pride (Chilote = the people of Chiloé).
Chiloé is known for its seafood, woodwork, wool products,
and woven reed goods (such as baskets), as well as it’s wildlife and wooden
churches. Depending on the mating season, one can see penguins, flamingos, or
blue whales off the Pacific Coast!
Due to the strong influence from missionaries, there are
over 150 wooden churches throughout the island. The craftsmanship required to
construct these structures is incredible. Even the main beams are made
completely from wooden planks. This influence also contributes the overall
religiousness of the people there (example to follow).
Unlike the Mapuche, the primary indigenous tribe of the
mainland of Chile, the tribes in Chiloé used much more color when dying their
wool. Therefore, the blankets, mittens and other goods made there are typically
very vibrant.
(note my colorful wool glittens)
I strongly encourage any storytellers and lovers of
literature to look into Chilote Mythology. The tales are a fascinating blend of
indigenous and Christian beliefs with Spanish superstitions and sea traditions.
Here are a few links to get you started:
* * *
After some efficient planning, three other volunteers and I
embarked on our journey.
The Line-Up:
Alex – from outside of New York City. She studied
mathematics and will begin law school in Miami this fall (she’s only in Chile
for 4 months). She is currently placed in Temuco, Chile.
Alice – from the bay area of California. She studied film
and international relations and is in the process of applying to law schools.
She is currently placed in Villarrica, Chile.
Eunice – from New Jersey, but associates herself as a
Bostonian. She studied energy resources and conservation and has been working in
Boston for the past couple years. She is currently placed in Futrono, Chile.
Day 1:
Our adventure began last Friday. Alex took a bus early in the morning, since
she had the farthest the travel. Eunice got on her bus, when it passed through
a town near her. Alice met me in my town and we took a later bus to the island,
so we could finish teaching our classes for the day. After an 8 ½ hour bus ride, Alice and I
discovered that we had covered practically every topic of conversation
imaginable.
When we finally reached our destination in Castro (one of
the big cities on the island) at approximately 9:45pm, we discovered that
neither of us had written down the address of our hostel. We called Eunice and
Alex, who were already there and with the help of them and the women at an
empanada stand near the bus terminal, we figured it out.
After walking a few blocks, we couldn’t remember which
street the women had told us to turn on. A man in a suit, standing nearby, read
through our confused faces and questioned us. Since Alice responded, I knew we
were trapped. Fortunately, he was a very friendly man. He explained to us that
he was concerned about us walking around alone at night and that he had two
daughters our age and would hate for anything to happen to them. He walked us
to the edge of a giant hill that we needed to walk down to get to our hostel.
On the walk, he showed us his carnet de identidad, to prove he was not lying to
us about his identity and explained to us that he used to be a city official of
some sort. He then showed us a photo of his son, who was apparently a police
officer in the town. Among other things,
he told us he was a religious man and before sending us on our way, he prayed
for us to have a nice but safe time in Chiloé and asked God to guide us.
Day 2:
The next morning, we awoke to find a breakfast like none we
had ever experienced in Chile. There
were fresh fruit and yogurt, scrambled eggs, homemade jams, real coffee (of the
non-instant variety), and homemade multi-grain bread with chia seeds! Oh the
bread! I miss it so…
As we trekked up the giant hill to get back to the center of
the city, we immediately realized how much more energized we felt after eating
a healthy breakfast. We also realized that we talked about food like it was our
job. We explored the city of Castro and
took a spontaneous bus trip to a nearby town called Chonchi, where we found
another wooden church (my favorite since the ceiling was painted like a night
sky). For lunch, we had the famous Chilote dish “curanto.” It was delish and it
was way too much to consume. But we managed to finish.
Curanto = a seafood and meat stew made up of oysters,
mussels, clams, chicken, smoked pork, sausage, milcao (a type of steamed mashed
potato patty), potatoes and onions; it is traditionally cooked by heating
stones in the ground and steaming the meat.
Here is a thorough explanation with pictures:
We also tried “milcao,” (or possibly “chapelele”…I’ve heard
both names used synonymously and don’t know which is technically correct) another
traditional Chilote dish.
Milcao = a fried mashed potato patty with pork rinds inside
à
The potatoes are grated, steamed, and mashed into a thick dough (they strain
the access water). The dough is pressed into a patty, and then fried pork rinds
are placed inside and covered with more of the potato dough. The patty is then
fried.
We are glad we tried this, but would not do it again seeing
as we literally felt our arteries clogging as we consumed it...
The day ended with us going to the Unimarc (a popular
supermarket in Chile) to get wine and chocolate items. We then returned to the
hostel to relax and chat about life and our Chilean experiences and to plan for
future excursions together.
(this is where our hostel in Castro was)
(the famous wooden church in Castro)
(inside the church...note all the wood)
(so many boats)
(seafood for sale everywhere. so fresh. so good.)
(this red building is the restaurant where we ate curanto)
(Alex and Eunice playing while Alice went to pet a random horse we found)
(the church in Chonchi)
Day 3:
We enjoyed our last day of heavenly breakfast and packed our
bags for the next city. We traveled to Dalcahue first, to explore the artisan
market and church. We each fell in love
with items in the market and were happy to support the local artisans who we
saw making everything by hand right in front of us.
We ate delicious seafood stew for almuerzo then made our way
to Ancud. On the 1 ½ hour bus ride, we
all felt carsick due to the winding roads.
We felt right at home when we arrived at our hostel located directly
across the street from the bus terminal, however.
We spent the remainder of the evening walking around Ancud
and then, as tradition would have it, found a supermarket to purchase wine and
chocolate to take back to the hostel. To be adventurous, we tried some new
cookies as well.
(there was apparently a car show going on)
(classic cars in front of the old church)
(resting on the bench...walking around with all of our things was tiring)
(one of the 50,000 photos Alice took of us during her mini candid photo shoots)
(more boats in Delcahue)
Day 4:
Since we missed whale and penguin season, we were told to check
out the flamingos in Caulín, which was about 30 minutes away from Ancud. We
explored more of Ancud during the morning before our noon bus to the
pueblo.
About an 1 ½ into the bus ride, we realized that this
“quick” excursion was going to be a treat…We were dropped off on a beach in the
middle of nowhere and we told to meet the bus in the same spot at 4:30pm to go
back to the city. As the bus pulled
away, we discovered that literally the only thing there was flamingoes and one
expensive family-owned oyster restaurant that was open. Everything was closed for the season. We walked up and down the gravel road looking
at the sheep and the cows and the flamingos and taking photos of rainbows and
wooden fences.
At about 4:15pm, we decided to venture down the road and
just pick up the bus when it passed us, since there was only one way it could
go. After 4:45pm, as we continued to walk and turn down passing trucks that
offered to pick us up, Eunice and Alex started to get nervous…At last we came
up to the end of someone’s driveway, where a mother was waiting for the bus
with her two children. We joined them for about 10 minutes until the bus
arrived, without a care in the world. ¡Así es in Chile!
At night, we discovered that there was no way Alex could
change her bus ticket to take the same bus home as the rest of us. Therefore,
we all stayed up late snacking on crackers and fresh cheese from the
gastronomic market, more chocolate cookies, and wine. Of course. And we got
serious about our travel plans, emailing tour companies and looking up flight
information. We may be an easy-going group of chicas, but we are efficient when
it comes to decision-making.
(the flamingos)
(a rainbow!)
(finally got the lighting right for this one...Alice was teaching me how to use my camera)
(cows)
(sheep...possibly the origin of the wool blankets Alice and Eunice purchased)
(the beginning of our walk to the "bus stop")
(leave it to Alice to find horses)
Day 5:
Early morning bus home. Long and restless ride. Thoroughly enjoyed my long holiday weekend
(in honor of a historic battle), but I had never been happier to return to my
pueblito.
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