Discovering the World Sans Valise: Beautiful Chiloe Island - Authenticity, Iconic Wooden Churches from the 17th and 18th century and Penguins!

Located south of Puerto Montt, the island of Chiloe is a magical world blessed in nature and culture. We absolutely loved it. We were fortunate enough to stay in one of the houses on stilts above the water in Castro, a town located on the eastern coast of the island. The landscape in the countryside is beautiful and a paradise for nature lovers like us, We experienced the warmth of the Chilote people who live on this island. We visited most of the 16 colorful wooden churches from the 17th century that have been declared World Heritage sites by Unesco. The seafood on this island is to die for! Shrimps, prawns, clams, and scallops were full of taste, the real taste of seafood that is difficult to experience these days! We even tried local oysters, a delicacy on the island. These were quite different from the ones we are used to eat, not to say "weird". We did not care for them. The island is also famous for its hundreds colorful potato varieties.

We drove from Puerto Varas and took a ferry with our car to get to the island of Chiloe. We drove through Ancud and continued towards Punihuil (located on the north western coast of the island) to see the Magellanic and Humboldt penguin colonies on several islets close to a beach. We then drove through the country side on a dirt road for many miles (not realizing by looking at a map ahead of time that it was a dirt road!) to Castro where we had rented an Airbnb house on stilts. We celebrated New Year's Eve at a wonderful restaurant next door to the place we were staying at. Fixed menu - five courses (no seafood that evening) with a waiter that was from Limoges, France!

The next day, we drove to Quinchao island to enjoy scenery and see old churches. We then drove along the coast from Dalcahue to Tenuan. We saw many small villages,and had a simple lunch in one of them. We went back to the same restaurant on New Year's evening for a wonderful seafood feast.

We took a small boat on this beach to go spot Magellanic and Humboldt penguins on the islets nearby.

Nice way to transport tourists to the boat!

The three islets

.....and the penguins - 80% magellanic and 20% Humbholdt penguins - the only place in the world where both species live together.

A relatively young chick with no black stripe yet

A delicious crab casserole - crab, cheese and cream :))

Fun to drive on the beach! - no other option to get back to the road

Driving through the country side and admiring old churches

Church of Dalcahue

Church of Rilan

Church of Nercon

Church of San Francisco in Chiloe's capital Castro - Beautiful wooden structure inside -

Definitive reconstruction in 1771 - Neo-gothic style

Castro and the houses on stilts over the water where we stayed

The delicious restaurant next door

Did I get sunburned that day??

Next day, visit of the island of Quinchao - more beautiful churches and more nice scenery. Forgive me for not remembering the name of all the churches.

Church of Achao

Church of Quinchao

Simple lunch in the only restaurant opened on the island of Quinchao on New Year's day! The door was slightly opened, We went in. I am actually not sure that the restaurant was opened to customers but a nice woman accepted to serve us. The meal was already prepared! Local chicken with STRONG bones and potatoes :))

We kept finding little fishing villages at the end of each road and there was always a church in the village.

Church of Tenaun

Back to Castro for a nice dinner

Next day, we drove back to Temuco to return the car. We ate a decadent meal: the steak "a la pobre" a chilean specialty that we really wanted to try. There are lots of calories in this dish!