Isla Grande de Chiloé

After a 4-hour ferry ride, I arrived in Quellón in fine weather. I did not only arrive in Quellón I also entered the Región de Los Lagos. After Región de Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo and Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, this was my 3rd province.

I read the following on a flyer on the ferry

Visit Chiloé in the dry season (December to February)

During these months, the temperatures are very warm, averaging 20°C, and the amount of rainfall is much lower than in the rest of the year. It is high season and the best time to travel in the whole of Chile.

So why has it been raining almost exclusively in Patagonia for the last 4 weeks?

Quellón is a typical small harbor town with some tourism. You can get everything you need and there are also stalls on the street where you can buy fresh vegetables and delicious empanadas. I had really missed that in Argentina.

After I'd done my shopping and my four weeks' worth of washing was in the laundrette, I visited the “Hito Cero de Ruta Panamericana”. It was only 21'000 km from here to Anchorage.

I actually thought that Ushuaia was the southernmost point and so I started to do some research. If all else fails, you go to Wikipedia. There it says

In Chile, the highway follows Chile Route 5 south to (Llaillay), a point north of Santiago, where the highway splits into two parts, one of which goes through Chilean territory to Puerto Montt, where it splits again, to Quellón on Chiloé Island, and to its continuation as the Carretera Austral. The other part goes east along Chile Route 60, which goes through the Andes to the Christ the Redeemer Tunnel.

So I was at one of the 3 ends in South America. Also good! After 4 hours I picked up my laundry and chose a parking space in the port of Yaldad. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the more idyllic spot, as the water could be so high at high tide that I wouldn't have much room to maneuver.

Before Yaldad, I also went to one of the entrances to Parque Tantauco, the Centro Turistico Ten Ten Vilú

So I went back and stood on a concrete platform in the port of Yaldad. People meet here in the evening to admire the sunset from their cars. Some listen to music, others drink a beer. My neighbor was one of the music lovers and was still listening to music at 11:30 pm, but then moved a little further away. At 4:00 a.m. a Labrador raided the garbage container behind my camper van, it took him about 45 minutes to sort the garbage. At 7:00 a.m. the first fishermen arrived and my night was finally over. Anything but a quiet night!

The fishermen of Yalad live from salmon farming. Later, I also saw the salmon farms in the other bays.

I set off for Muelle De Las Almas without a good night's sleep. But because the weather was great, with a bright blue sky, I made a detour to Auchac. Apart from two small supermarkets, there was nothing but countryside and the sea. And, of course, a view of the two volcanoes Corcovado and Michinmahuida on the mainland.

The landscape on Chiloé is hilly and characterized by farms, forests, streams and lakes in the south. Although the island is populated (approx. 175'000 inhabitants), a large part of it is still pure nature and seemed quite undeveloped.

I drove on the R5 until the junction with the W80. The W80 runs alongside Lago Huillinco. For me, it was like the Chilean version of Lake Lucerne. Large, picturesque and besieged by tourists. A few miradores, kayak rentals, cyclists, guided bus tours and hikers.

There were even a few designated hiking trails in Parque Tepuhueico, for example the Sendero y Mirador los 4 Lagos. But like the Sendero Muelle De Las Almas later on, these can easily be done in 2-3 hours.

Lago Huillinco almost reaches the Pacific Ocean, but ends just before Cucao. You can often buy empanadas along the lake. My pick was a surprise: empanadas with mussels <mejillones>. So delicious!

South of Cucao, I found my pitch at Playa de Pietras, 100 meters from the Pacific Ocean. The area is also part of Tepuhueico Park, but it seemed boon-docking is not forbidden. The next morning I hiked the Sendero Muelle De Las Almas and relaxed by the sea in the afternoon.

Muelle de las Almas (Pier of Souls) is a cliff that juts out into the Pacific and has been supplemented with a wooden walkway for the influencers. Teenagers hang, sit and pose there. In fact, Muelle de las Almas goes back to a local legend that says that the souls of the deceased wait for the mythical boatman on this symbolic jetty. In any case, no influencer was taken.

The evening was rainy, but the next morning the sun was shining. I thought nothing of it and set off. Big mistake! I sank into the wet sand 2 meters from the road. Nothing helped, I unpacked my shovel and sand trays and an hour later I was out.

A little dirty and sweaty, we went to Conchi to a baker who really should bake bread, namely French bread. The Panaderia Corteza was a hit. Proper baguettes and bread, only the croissants were sold out at 11:45. You could watch the bakers at work in the glass bakery. I also bought honey and mustard from Dijon.

Conchi itself is a nice little town that is decked out for tourists at the harbor. You can drink coffee, stroll through a market and through the town center. I tried to buy fresh fish. But the smallest amount was half a salmon and I couldn't eat it or freeze it. For fresh mussels, I didn't have a pot big enough for a portion.

The island is famous for its wooden churches. They were built by Jesuit missionaries and are characterized by their colourful exterior. One of them is in Conchi, but it is so overbuilt and parked up that I couldn't take a usable photo.

The picture on Wikipedia comes closest

On the way to Castro, I realized that Chiloé is an archipelago. Many smaller and larger islands loomed off the coast. But I didn't have them on my program!

In Castro (population approx. 49,000) I spent an hour trying to find a parking space. It is the largest city on the island and also the busiest. After finding nothing in the city center, I searched in the residential areas. It was not the first time that I had driven on in frustration. During my search, I did see the pile dwellings (palafitos) for which Castro and Puerto Montt are famous.

Palafitos are houses that stand on stilts above the water so that fishermen can get to their boats quickly.

We continued on to Ancud, the north-western end of Chiloé. The landscape didn't really change, maybe it got a bit more industrial along the R5, but there were small stalls again where you could get something to eat. I didn't get any empanandas with mussels, but something like the Chilean form of churripan or simply a sausage in a roll.

It was already late afternoon when I arrived in Ancud (population approx. 42'000). I decided to take a closer look at Ancud on the way back to the ferry and drove northwest along the W20.

I was to see fortifications on the other side of the Gulf of Ancud. A remnant of the Spanish. I couldn't see anything.

There aren't many places along the W20, but in Chucalen I turned off to the Pacific. More precisely, to the Mar Brava

There are several beaches here, but I was immediately drawn to Playa Polocue. A spot on grass, slightly above the high tide line, 100 meters to the water and a great view. What more could you want!

After a little research, I knew that I was on the Mar Brava, with a view of the Islotes de Puñihuil to the south. It's about 7 km from the Rocas Basalticas Polocue to the Muelle El Caleuche. On the 2nd day I went for a walk in good weather. Had a look at the more northerly Playa Rosaura, the small harbor at the Rocas Basalticas Polocue and baked a banana bread.

Ate delicious fish at the only restaurant on the beach in the evening. 3 grannies cooked here like at home. The fresh merluza came from the small harbor and was so delicious.

It was easy to find a parking space in Ancud on a Monday morning. There is a shopping area with restaurants at the harbour and not much else.

So I traveled on towards Puerto Montt after I got some tools at a Chinese DIY shop. The crossing from Chiloé to the mainland at Chacao was so professional. As soon as I drove down to the harbour, I was waved through to the next ferry.