Little getaway of Chiloé

As we've mentioned in the previous post, while leaving Santiago, we left the good weather behind us as well. After almost two rainy weeks in Calbuco, the weather forecast for the weekend in Chiloé was promising, so we took the opportunity to see this area praised by our host family.

To get there, we had to return to Puerto Montt by micro(bus) to catch a coach towards Castro, the main city of the island (in total, approximately 4 hours of journey, including a crossing by ferry). There was also the possibility of catching the coach directly on the highway, but we didn't have the exact informations regarding the stops ...

While arrived in sunny Castro, we started to look for a campsite, which we checked out before on the Internet. Since we got to Chile, we have our sleeping bags, mattress and a tent (that takes pretty much space in our backpacks), so we wanted to use them finnaly... but easier said than done...

Well, after going up and down the heights (yes, Castro is a hilly town, and yes, our bags started getting heavy), it turned out that ... the campsite wasn't there and nobody has ever heard of it (edit: the campsite was on the school grounds, and it only opens on December 26th, so more than a month after our visit) ...

Well, it doesn't matter, we have an internet connection (portable modem is always handy) and as a 21st century camper, we can quickly find another place reachable without a car. So following the instructions of uncle Google, here we are back in the center (do not forget the hills in passing), because apparently there is another campsite ... apparently ... What can 21st century camper do in such a situation? Bah, find a hostel closest and pay rather expensive (35 €) for the room.

Well, that's what can happen when one wants to explore super touristic area before the season begins. (on the other hand, the breakfasts that we've got there was really cool. The boss's daughter was taking some gastronomy classes and made lots of cakes :) ) However, it wasn't the worst decision we've take, because after the sunny Friday, came windy and cloudy Saturday, followed by rainy Sunday. The weather forecast for the beginning of the week finally drove us off the island. In other words, in such conditions, we wouldn't really appreciate sleeping in tent.

Our stay on the island, although shorter than expected, didn't turn out to be wasted time. On Saturday morning, we boarded a micro, which took us to Cucao, a small village on the other side of the island, located right next to a national park (and with open campgrounds nearby, but with the weather like that we didn't take our chances). Fortunately, even with a cloudy sky, the park was worth the trip. NB: Me (Quentin) wishes to limit the chaotic aspect of the weather described by Asia, it was not too rotten as time do not imagine a storm but a little morning drizzle (just like in Brittany).

The national park is divided into two parts, separated by an asphalt road. The first path that we took lead towards El Tepual area, an evergreen and very dense forest located in the wetlands. On almost all the length, you have to walk on a raised wooden path.

It would be impossible to make a detour from it because of the marshy land and lush vegetation.

To get to El Tepual zone, you must first cross a swampy area (a consequence of significant deforestation carried out by previous generations), but when your reach it you can see lots of endemic species of plants, such as el ñocha (which in Europe can be found in flowerpots, as in Asia's grandmother livingroom) and animals (Chilote fox, some marsupials and pudu). We managend only to hear some of the local birds (see: the sound tab on our page: “in da wild”).

The second path will take you through hills and dunes, followed by immense beach of the Pacific Ocean. Despite a cloudy day and a strong wind (or maybe thanks to that) the landscape left us just speachless.

Within this national park, there are also some longer trails, of about 8-9 km, that go more into the forest, but due to lack of time we couldn't do them: the bus driver, that took us to the park warned us that the last bus back to Castro was leaving at 18:30. A good surprise: there is also a short trail adapted to the needs of people with reduced mobility. There is also a museum at the entrance explaining the geological aspect of the park (melting of glaciers), local plants and animals and some local legends as well(but most of them seem originated from the Old Continent: sirens, harpies, elves .. .). For Asia it was a little bit disappointing that there was relatively few information on the lives of the Indians Huiliiche, who have lived in this territory since a long time. Their cultures and traditions are present in a very rudimentary way.

2 videos from that part of the park (sorry for the poor quality):

#Chile #Chiloé