Penguins in Patagonia (Chiloe Island)

Our first full day in Puerta Varas we went to Chiloe Island to see the penguins! The day started off dreary and grey, and a tad bit chilly.  We were a little bummed, but our guide, Jaime, assured us it would end up beautiful.  We took a ferry to get there, catching glimpses of penguins swimming, sea lions basking on the buoys, and pelicans diving down for lunch.  It was incredible to see so many different types of wildlife in their natural environment.  

Handsome man on the ferry

Pointing to our destination (in the cold)

Our first stop was to the town square.  It had a bunch of little shops and of course, like all other little towns on the island, a church.  This church is protected by UNESCO and is very unique/innovative for the time.  When the town was taken over from the natives the first thing they did was build a church.  They needed the townspeople to help, and the townspeople had no clue how to build something that big. They relied on what they knew best, boats.  They constructed the building using boat building techniques.  The roof is an upside down boat. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. 

The town church 

Another interesting thing about the church is its Jesus.  He is wearing a pancho because they wanted to keep their traditions even after being invaded.

Jesus with a pancho

This island is full of folktales to explain nature and the lives of the villagers.  They were/are very superstitious and still rely on the stories today.  El Trauco (below) is a creature that steals women and takes them for a night in the forrest.  When they come back they are pregnant and give birth to his baby in due time.  This story of course, is to protect the children born out of wedlock so they wouldn't be socially degraded.  If you were a child of el Trauco, you had a dad and therefore weren't ashamed.

Us and the trauco, a local folk legend

We made a unscheduled stop along the coast for fresh oysters  

Jaime also took us to the daily market.  For some reason I love going to markets around the world.  You really get to see how daily life is for the locals.  This market had permanent stalls for the locals and then it had rentable (is that a word) stalls for the people coming from the different islands.  A lot of the sales aren't with money, but rather trades for needed items.  

The towns market, the tied up brown stuff in the top right corner is seaweed.

Garlic? Yes please.

A local we met. He was one of the few survivors of an earthquake in the early 1900s.

 Finally, we were headed to the penguin island, but not without stopping for some beautiful views. Jess said it the coast reminded him of northern Cali.  JB, is that true?

Beautiful view

Getting close to the penguins! We saw this sign on the way. 

We got to the penguin beach/island and I was so excited. I felt like a little kid at Christmas.  We put our lifejackets on and were off.  Now I feel like I need to explain, Chile (or the parts we saw of it) keeps nature how it is and doesn't ruin it.  I was fully expecting to hold the penguins and feed them.  Thankfully a friend told me before hand we would just slowly circle around the island in order to not disturb the penguins and their environment.  I was a little selfish disappointed at first, but then realized it was such a cool experience and I want to leave them in peace so they can go on living their cute little lives.  

Our boat

Jess made a friend

Cute little guys kept slipping into the water 

I was doing a happy feet dance seeing this little guys

King of the hill 

Sea lion basking waiting to catch some penguins

Just a little excited! 

The island in the background is where the penguins have their nests (and where we saw them). 

 We had lunch where the fishermen and penguin patrol (?) eat.  It was a cute little restaurant that the wives of the men ran with some awesome seafood pastels, fish, and pil pil (sauce).  After lunch we headed to the beach we saw earlier.  We relaxed and took in the pure peacefulness of being on a deserted beach in Patagonia.  It was beautiful, there were even wild horses and cows walking along in the distance.

Peaceful 

Watching the tide roll in 

Footprints and freedom

Just us and creation

Cloud's reflection in the water

The fisherman's town behind us

The landscape was so beautiful and diverse...

We really enjoyed our time on Chiloe Island and were so happy the sky ended up being clear and beautiful.  Actually we were very fortunate with the weather the whole time we were in Patagonia, a man we were talking with said it rained for 8 days before we got there.  Thank you Lord for giving us great weather!

Up next...Osorno volcano.