April 20,

We were awake by 0630, but it was cold, as in we could see our breath – cold!!(freezing emoji) Jeff braved the conditions and got out to make fire. He figured out the issue from last night, with the wood burning stove. He found & opened the flue more and it worked a lot better. Then he came back to the bedroom with the gas burner and jumped into bed! Because “It’s cold out there, campers.”

We finally got out of our cozy bed and around. The shower was nice and hot. The problem with so many places down here – no insulation! But other than this, our place seems to be nice. It’s a decent two bedroom jobber with a large terrace. Unfortunately, the terrace was all wet this morning, so we had to admire the views from inside. This is okay, as the inside is all wood and nice…but still. That reminds me last night I did see stars, but only from inside. I did not go out, but Jeff did and said he saw the Milky Way. I guess I will have to suck it up and go out tonight.

Anyway, we had our Javas and oatmeal for breakfast. We got ready to go out around 1030. The sun had come out to play… yeah!!! We first had to get gas then we went to the west coast, to Cucao. As we left Castro, the water level was low so the tide was out. The drive west was pretty along Lago Huillinco. Cucao is a little sleepy village on the Pacific Ocean. We drove out to the end of the paved road. We got out on the sand dune/grassy area and walked to the water’s shore. The tide was still low. There was one other car parked and we saw the person taking photos in the dunes. We also saw four large, black birds. Later we found out they were black vultures, on a beach.

We loaded up and decided to go south, along the gravel road, Route W-802. We were in a national park, Tepuhueico. Along the way and back, we saw dramatic cliffs to the ocean. We crossed an elevated one lane wooden bridge and came upon a gauchos with his two herding dogs, but no cattle. But further we did see some cattle and sheep. We took the road all the way until it ended at a loop, so we returned to a view point of the cliffs. Here we stopped and split a sandwich, watching the ocean. It was a lovely day. When we finished we headed back toward Castro.

We decided to check out another island instead of going back. So at 1430, we boarded a ferry to Isla Lemuy and took off at 1434. There were 12 vehicles that had boarded and it was full. Once underway we paid the $2,950 CLP, $3.30 fare for the car. Passengers were free! We went there to see three UNESCO Churches. First was Iglesia de Detif; second was Iglesia de Aldachildo; and Iglesia de Ichuac. None were open, all were wood, and part of the Iglesias Patrimoniales de Chiloe, or Heritage Churches of Chiloe, a part of UNESCO heritage. Chiloe is a word in Huilliche language that means “place of seagulls”. The churches were a small part, of many local churches of Jesuits and Fransicans from the late 16 & 17 centuries. The ones we saw had bare, older wood with traces that they once were painted, but now just seem waiting for some care. One had a big hole in the rooftop of the steeple and one was braced with wood supports all along the sides. There are more on the island we are staying on, but seeing these three was enough for us, kind of sad, actually.

At 1630, we boarded the ferry back, and at 1634, we took off with five other vehicles. We paid 2,950 CLP again. By 1644 we arrived back on Chiloe Island, drove off the ferry, and headed back to Castro town. We stopped at a grocery store. Then we went to supper at Restaurant Encanto Chilote. We were given a bread starter with a mayo based sauce and a pico de galle. We had two mains: Atuna del Pacifico- Seared tuna accompanied by homemade gnocchi made with potato & sweet potato topped with a mushroom sauce; and Merluza Palafito- Fried hake fish accompanied by Chilean salad and a potato salad. We both had a glass of Chardonnay and a bottle of water, watching the sunset as we ate. We paid 46,728 CLP, or $52.80.

Now we drove back to our place seeing the sliver of a moon as night descended on us. The traffic was bad, very congested. We finally arrived back, I blogged as Jeff read and then proofed/put in the new entry. I stay up to go out and see the stars. But there was only one window in the clouds to see them. But that window had many stars! Good day.