Chiloé: But Actually Yes, the Island of WInd and Rain

Chiloé was very wet. It's an island south and west of the Lake District so it's surrounded by water. But beyond that, there were also scattered torrential downpours the entire time I was there. Definitely got my money's worth out of my raincoat and rain cover.

Being geographically isolated definitely gives Chiloé a different feel than the mainland. Unlike the Lake District where a lot seems to be aimed at tourists, you can tell real people actually live and work in Chiloé, mostly as fishermen along the cost but the interior is all developed farmland. That being said, there isn't all that much to do there beyond walk around and admire the old fashioned houses built on stilts right on the water and the historic churches.

I also got out of the main town of Castro and hiked through part of the Chiloé National Park. Parts of it were quite beautiful as the trail went right along the beach, but parts wound out of the park and through farmland, which is scenic in its own way, but not quite what I was hoping for. The aforementioned torrential rain was also a deterrent, but during clear periods I was able to snap some pretty pictures.

I was originally going to take a ferry right from Chiloé over into Patagonia, but the one ferry of the week left at three in the morning, which I wasn't really feeling. As such, I backtracked up the island and across to Puerto Montt to treat myself to a clean, warm, and dry nice hotel for the night (Thanks Dad!) before setting off down the Carretera Austral into Patagonia aka living the dream. Part one of Patagonia will be up next!