A remote island archipelago to the west of Chile, Chiloe is famous for its UNESCO wooden churches. However. there are also delightful towns to explore, unspoilt countryside and an interesting mythology.

 

One can only admire the pragmatism of an island that has a trauco in its mythology: an ugly troll whose breath makes him irresistible to women so that any unexplained pregnancies are blamed on him.

The Chiloe archipelago lies off the western coast of Chile and maybe it is its very remoteness which gave rise to the complicated mythology that exists to this day. It was a poor island, whose men often sought work elsewhere,  so maybe the trauco was indeed useful.

The Spanish arrived in 1567, and ultimately its isolation helped them hang on a little longer than they should have in South America. Expelled from the mainland, they clung on in Chiloe for another 8 years, until their final defeat in 1826. The remains of their forts can be seen at Ancud in the north of the big island, Isla Grande.

However it is thanks to their rule that the Jesuits flourished, so much so that they were expelled from the Spanish colonies in 1767 as Spain feared their power. The Franciscans followed and built on their legacy, leaving us today the fine UNESCO World Heritage listed wooden churches that are unique to this part of the world.

Chiloe is a breath of fresh air, an escape to a gentler pace.  Small farms nestle between pockets of native vegetation and the hills create a roller coaster drive. Further out, national parks preserve big areas of unspoilt forest.  There are charming low level towns and small villages with harmonious wooden or tin architecture,  clustered round sleepy bays that just invite you to curl up and chill out for a while.

Charles Darwin, who called in twice, complained about the incessant rain, but we had 5 days of glorious sunny weather. Here are some of our highlights.

1 The Palafitos of Castro

Castro became the capital of Chiloe in 1960, after an earthquake devastated Ancud.  It is a  buzzy little town on a headland ; steep streets lead down to the water from the central Plaza with its striking yellow church.

The palafitos are fishermen’s homes on stilts, designed so that the boat could be tied up at the back  while its owner could walk out the front door. They look better when the tide is in, rather than marooned on the mud flats, but their jolly colors and traditional wood shingle design make them very picturesque

There are various places to see them : the most accessible spot is probably the viewing area near the Rio Gamboa. Black necked swans are common here too. Another cluster to the north side of town needs some care with parking and involves crossing a busy road.

The poshest are found on the stretch along Pedro Montt – check out the lovely Palafito Patagonia cafe with its great terrace – and there are a couple of smart guesthouses here too. You can hire a canoe next to the strikingly blue Uniornio Azul hotel, found opposite the steam engine display.

2 The Wooden Churches

The Jesuits and then the Franciscans used native labour and boat builders to construct these wonderful wooden churches, which is why their interiors remind many of an upturned boat. The perfect fusion of European ideals and native craftsmanship, they are unique in the world and justly famous.

Although there are about 70 of them, only 16 are UNESCO listed; we managed to visit 12 in total on Isla Grande and on the island of Quincao. 3 others are on the island of Lemuy which is only a short ferry crossing from just south of Chonchi and another on Caguach, a more distant island.

Part of the fun in visiting them is finding some lovely areas of Chiloe. All the churches have subtle differences and color schemes; some are in the center of town, others in distant villages and fields. There are simple interiors, others a riot of colour and carving or starry skies.

The yellow tin clad church in Castro was delightful: I felt I was sitting in a matchstick model with its soaring wooden interior in a warm honey colour.  Tenuan had the most beautiful exterior, with its three smart blue towers and big stars on the front. San Juan, the prettiest village and Conchi the most charming town. Colo was a simple rustic one with an unusual flare to the roof and little ships hanging inside.

On the island of Quincao, easily reached by a 10 minute ferry ride from Dalcahue and only 5, 000 CPL return for us and car, we visited the oldest of the churches at Acheo. Its exterior in natural wood belied an ornate interior with richly carved altars .

Quincaos was the largest of all in a rather out of the way spot and had been heavily rebuilt. As one looked at all the new wood it was easy to appreciate just how difficult it is to preserve these buildings today – restoration virtually means taking them totally apart in order to replace rotting timbers.

3 Lovely Towns & Villages

We enjoyed Castro but two other towns also stood out. Chonchi has a striking church in a plaza at the top of town; from there a steep street lined with lovely old shingled wooden houses drops down to a very pretty sweep of bay, with a nice cafe and guesthouse – the perfect place to chill out for a while.

Dalcahue was rather busier but another likable town. We stayed at Bordemar which has scenic cabanas and camping on its western cliffs above the little port and enjoyed watching all the comings and goings of the boats.  There is another church in the plaza and a good handicraft market. The main strip also has plenty of cafes.

Visiting the churches also leads to some serendipitous discoveries : we fell in love with San Juan, a tiny fishing village centred on a cosy square in front of their old church.  It has a lovely bay, dotted with the colorful buoys of the fishing farms, and distant mountain views.

There is also a boat building yard where the men had four on the go in various states of readiness. It was fascinating to watch them shape the wood for the frames and see how a boat is made; they were quite friendly and chatty. My husband said he could quite happily watch them at work all day and now feels inspired to build his own boat!

The village has about four guesthouses, any would do. It is the ideal spot to curl up and do nothing in between long beach walks.

4 Muelle de las Almas

Literally ‘dock of souls’, this is a modern art installation about 13 km south of Cucao on the western side of the island. The ticket hut is actually about 3 km before the parking area (1,500 CPL each without parking) and we soon discovered why.

At 1.9 km, our little Chevy Spark ground to a halt on the big corrugations of a steep gravel hill and we had to walk the final .6 of a km. At least this saved us another 2000 CPL in parking costs, but once we saw the 2 km track stretching away into the distance, I could see why many might give up at that point and decide not to bother.

However, it is a lovely 2 km walk with superb views to reward the roller-coaster hike. Traversing native forestand and well grazed pasture, it ends at the rugged Pacific Ocean cliffs where the dock is found: literally a wooden ski jump type installation, going nowhere and ending abruptly.  Whether you view this as a bizarre con or see it in a more symbolic light is up to you.

It was actually built by a Chilean artist and art professor, Marcelo Orellana Rivera, to pay homage to the Mapuche natives who once occupied all of south/central Chile and parts of Argentina, while incorporating the tradition of woodworking that is so famous on the islands.

Its origins lie in folklore: when someone died they would come to Punta Pirulil and call for the tempilcahue, a cantankerous boatman, who, for a price, would row their souls away into the afterlife. Sometimes he refused and these lost souls can still be heard wailing round the cliffs.

We did indeed hear mysterious sounds but they emanated from the sea lion colonies on the nearby rocky outcrops, a cross between a strangled bleat and the cry of a football hooligan.

Relatively few people make their way here. Sit on the end and dangle your feet over – whether it’s art or not, it is a great walk.

5 Strange Drinks & Cuisine

Chonchi is famous for its licor de oro, a rich liquor with saffron, vanilla, milk, lemon, cloves and cinnamon – and it is actually rather delicious. Try it at the handicraft stalls opposite the church, it is pudding in a glass. If that doesn’t do it for you, they also do a mean Baileys equivalent – perfect for those cold nights.

When it comes to food, the most traditional dish is curanto, which as far as I can see is just a mixture of everything that was available at the time: it is a strange blend of seafood, shellfish, pork, potatoes and herby dumplings called chapaleles and was traditionally steamed over hot rocks by the Mapuche indians in gravel pits excavated on the beaches.

The food was layered and covered with nalca leaves, which come from a plant which looks like a giant rhubarb which is common in the region. Like rhubarb, you will find people selling the stalk on the street as an instant snack. These uhdays the curanto itself is more often cooked in a casserole.  You can find it easily in the local restaurants or at the food stalls in the markets.

6 The Spanish Forts

There are the remains of two Spanish forts on Chiloe, one on a headland at Ancud, the other opposite across the strait, so effectively guarding the bay.

Fuerte San Antonio dates from 1770 and lies on the northern side of Ancud. It is small and rather characterless, and largely turned into a lovers retreat – there is a little stand at the gate as you enter selling risque models of Trauco.

However,  Fuerte San Miguel de Ahui, dating back to 1779, is well worth a visit: it is a beautiful 40 km drive round the bay and it has spectacular views from its location on the Lacuy Peninsula. There is parking at the end of the road by a little beach popular with locals, then a ten minute hike up through thick native vegetation. It is free to visit.

There is a small museum which will give you a good idea of what the fort once looked like, then a further short stretch leads to the entrance gates. These are sadly reduced in size from what they once were, but entering you will find the large flat open area of the fort.

Little remains bar the powder house with an ornately carved portal but you can walk a circuit of the walls and enjoy the fine views, especially towards Ancud. There are an assortment of cannon though I think these are actually of later date, and a small lighthouse.

7 The Islands

One thinks of the Chiloe archipelago as a whole but the main island is actually Isla Grande and there are many others dotted off this big one.

I mentioned Quincao above which has two impressive UNESCO churches and lots of other minor ones dotted around that are quite fun to explore. The countryside side is quite relaxed and rural with less traffic and there are plenty of accommodation options.

It is no effort at all to reach with a shuttle ferry from Dalcahue taking only 10 minutes. Equally easy to get to is Lemuy, again a very short ferry ride, this time from 4 km south of Chonchi.  There are three churches to visit here and again the pace of life is just that little bit slower.

After that you might need to start chatting up the local fishermen though there is usually a ferry of some sort to even the more way out islands

8 The National Parks

These can be rather inaccessible and indeed unless you are a rabid overnight hiker, totally inaccessible in some cases.

We took a drive out to Chepu at the northern end of the Parque Nacional Chiloe, where the road ends in a wide expanse of sand dunes before you reach the beach. The much vaunted ecolodge appears to be defunct and the only option is camping. We stayed at quite a cute little site just before the jetty on the left, with a cheerful wizened owner.

The bird watching here is supposed to be very good and you can hire canoes just above the jetty to explore the dead submerged forest, created in 1960 when the earthquake caused the land level to drop two metres. It was too windy for this when we were there unfortunately.

The southern entrance to the park at Cucao is reached after a lovely drive alongside Lago Cucao from near Chonchi. We stayed at El Fogon de Cucao which had cabanas and camping in a beautiful position right on the lake, and there are several other options.

The park entrance was almost next door and entry was a steep 4,000 CPL. There was a short interesting loop walk called ‘El Tepual’ which leads through native vegetation and tepu forest so thick that one wondered how anyone ever got through it.

The walk to the beach leads to an overlook view of the Pacific and in all honesty, I  think the walk to the Muelle de las Almas was far more scenic than the short options in this area. However, it is an interesting little spot and worth a day if you have the time.

9 Chillote Handicrafts

Chiloe is known for its wool and there are no end of knitted handicrafts to take home, many of sufficiently good quality and design that you would happily even wear them at home. Everyone has seen the famous gorro woolen hats from Chiloe, with their long ear pieces to keep out the cold and they come in all sorts of jolly colours and designs.

However, there are plenty of more stylish knitted hats available, as well as jumpers, capes and all sorts of socks and gloves. There are some nice rugs and throws too.

Dalcahue has one of the nicest markets, and Castro also has an extensive one, at the bottom of a very steep hill. Both are on the waterfront and have food stalls nearby. The stalls opposite the church in Conchi also have some very attractive well made hooded jumpers, and even better, they sell the local liquors too.

All in all, it should not be difficult to take home nice souvenirs and happy memories from this most fascinating of islands.

 

Exchange Rate £1 = 850 CPL

Getting Around: We rented a car in Puerto Montt which was the cheaper option then took the frequent ferry to Chiloe. There is actually a good bus system between Puerto Montt and Castro, the capital of Chiloe, but a car makes it much easier to explore off the beaten track.