PDF Chile & Easter Island Chiloé (PDF Chapter) Edition 11th Edition, October 2018 Pages 22 Page Range 277–296 COVERAGE INCLUDES: Useful Links • Ancud Want more guides? • Quemchi Head to our shop • Dalcahue • Isla Quinchao Trouble with your PDF? Trouble shoot here • Peninsula de Rilán • Castro Need more help? Head to our FAQs • Parque Nacional Chiloé Stay in touch • Parque Tantauco Contact us here • Quellón © Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this PDF chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above – ‘Do the right thing with our content’. ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Chiloé Includes ¨ Why Go? Ancud ......................... 279 When the early-morning fog shrouds misty-eyed and misun- Quemchi .....................283 derstood Chiloé, it’s immediately apparent something differ- Dalcahue ....................285 ent this way comes. Isla Grande de Chiloé is South America’s Isla Quinchao .............286 fifth-largest island and is home to a fiercely independent, seafaring people. Peninsula de Rilán .....288 Immediately apparent are changes in architecture and Castro ........................289 cuisine: tejuelas, the famous Chilote (of Chiloé) wood shin- Parque Nacional gles; palafitos (houses mounted on stilts along the water’s Chiloé .........................294 edge); the iconic wooden churches (16 of which are Unesco Parque Tantauco ........295 World Heritage sites); and the renowned meat, potato and Quellón .......................296 seafood stew, curanto. A closer look reveals a rich spiritual culture that is based on a distinctive mythology of witch- craft, ghost ships and forest gnomes. All of the above is weaved among landscapes that are wet, Best Places to Eat windswept and lush, with undulating hills, wild and remote national parks, and dense forests, giving Chiloé a distinct ¨ Rucalaf Putemún (p292) flavor unique in South America. ¨ Cazador (p292) ¨ Mercadito (p292) ¨ La Cocinería Dalcahue When to Go (p286) Ancud ¨ Cocineria Tradiciones °C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm Morelia (p295) 30/86 10/250 8/200 20/68 6/150 10/50 Best Places to 4/100 Stay 0/32 2/50 ¨ Tierra Chiloé (p289) -10/14 0 J FDM A M J J A S O N ¨ Palafito del Mar (p291) ¨ OCIO Territorial Hotel Feb The clearest Sep–Mar Pen- Dec–May Best (p289) skies of the year guins breed in time of year to ¨ Palafito Cucao Hostel in Chiloé, but Monumento catch endangered (p294) you’ll still need a Natural Islotes de blue whales off poncho. Puñihuil. Chiloé’s northwest ¨ Isla Bruja Lodge (p295) coast. 278 C Carelmapu anal d Península e Chac o Caleta a Pargua Lacuy Isla Puelche Quetalmahue Puluqui Caulín Chacao 7 Monumento Natural Ancud Islotes de Puñihuil Linao CHILOÉ CHILOÉ Golfo de Chepu Ancud 5 P A C I F I C Río O C E A N Isla Bu ta Caucahue Ferry H Isla l Parque cu I Metalqui r G Nacional a Quemchi Islas H Chiloé Chauques ricana Isla L e I m Mechuque G a San ht Juan Pan Tenaún Isla S Mocopulli Parque Isla Isla Butachauques Dalcahue Curaco Linlín Ayacara Nacional de Vélez Llingua Chiloé Isla Putamún Río An Castro Meulín ay Achao Fior Huentemó Quilquico do R eñi Isla hue Río Cole C Nercón Rilán ole Peninsula Isla Caguache de Rilan Aldachildo Quinchao Villupulli Lago Puqueldón Chonchi Cucao Chulchuy Cucao Parque Lago Huillinco Huichas Isla Isla Isla Natural Muelle de Huillinco Lemuy Chaulinec Talcán Pumalín las Almas s 7 le Lago Tepuhueco Queilén Nata Chaitén Isla Grande Lago San Isla de Chiloé Antonio Tranqui Puerto to Río 5 y err M Ferry F e d i Lago n Volcán a Chaiguaco Quellón Corcovado (2300m) Lago Chaiguata Isla Golfo Cailín Corcovado Parque Tantauco Isla Región X Laitec 0 40 km Isla Isla San 0 20 miles Quilán Pedro Chiloé Highlights 1 Unesco-listed 4 Monumento Natural 7 Peninsula de Rilán Wooden Churches (p288) Islotes de Puñihuil (p283) (p288) Sleeping in remote Genuflecting in awe at the Spying Magellanic and luxury at this picturesque Chiloé’s churches. Humboldt penguins in the peninsula. 2 Muelle de las Almas wild. 8 Parque Tantauco (p295) (p294) Trekking across 5 Parque Nacional Chiloé Losing yourself on a hut-to- Chiloé’s landscape to the (p294) Hiking along Chiloé’s hut trek through untamed mythological Dock of Souls. raging and wild west coast. temperate rainforest. 3 Chepu (p284) Taking a 6 Isla Mechuque (p285) 9 Curanto (p283) Tearing dawn kayak trip through a Wandering the idyllic mini- into a bowl of Chiloé’s most misty sunken forest. island microcosm of Chiloé. traditional dish. 279 History Puñihuil make it an easy-to-digest base for The islands were first populated by the Chono exploring a lesser visited corner of Chiloé. people, who were pushed toward the Archi- 1 Sights pelago de Aisén as the Mapuche invaded from the north. The Spaniards took full possession oCentro de Visitantes of Chiloé in 1567, some five years after a small- Inmaculada Concepción MUSEUM pox epidemic killed much of the indigenous (www.iglesiasdechiloe.cl; Errázuriz 227; suggested do- CHILOÉ population. A measles epidemic in 1580 fur- nation CH$500; h9:30am-7pm Jan & Feb, 9:30am- ther weakened the native influence. 1pm & 2:30-6pm Mon-Fri Mar-Nov) Don’t think about visiting Chiloé’s Unesco-listed churches During the wars of independence, Chiloé G A nc was a Spanish stronghold; the Spanish re- without first stopping in at this excellent mu- E ttin sisted criollo attacks in 1820 and 1824 from seum housed in the former Convento Inmacu- U heavily fortified Ancud, until their final lada Concepción de Ancud (1875). It’s home to D G T defeat in 1826. Chiloé itself stayed off the wooden scale models of all 16 churches, which radar until the 1850s when its proximity show the workings of the intricate interior H E to the new Puerto Montt gave the islands woodwork of each. R increasing commercial importance. It took You’ll also find an interesting museum E& A another century to establish a road running shop, where you can pick up the free bi- the length of the main island. Fishing was lingual La Ruta de Las Iglesias Chiloé vis- WA and is the main industry, but is now heavily itors’ guide. If you dig Chiloé churches, the Y dominated by salmon and shellfish farming. foundation has produced a good coffee-table book, which is also available in the shop. 8 Getting There & Away oMuseo Regional de Ancud The most popular route for travelers is the Aurelio Bórquez Canobra MUSEUM frequent (p276) between Pargua, on the ferry (Museo Chilote; www.museoancud.cl; Libertad 370; mainland 62km southwest of Puerto Montt, h10am-7:30pm Jan & Feb, 10am-5:30pm Tue-Fri, to and Chacao, a small town of little interest at the 2pm Sat & Sun Mar-Dec) F northeast corner of Isla Grande de Chiloé, but This worthwhile that is all set to change over the coming years. museum, casually referred to as Museo Construction on the controversial Puente Cha- Chiloé, offers interesting displays tracking cao, a 2.6km suspension bridge – the largest the history of the island, including a full- of its kind in Latin America – linking Chiloé with sized replica of the Ancud, which sailed the the mainland, has been postponed several times treacherous fjords of the Strait of Magellan but may be operational in the next decade. Until to claim Chile’s southernmost territories; then, bus fares to/from the mainland include the and a massive intact blue-whale skeleton. half-hour ferry crossing. LATAM Airlines operates one daily flight from Santiago to Castro via Puer- Fuerte San Antonio FORTRESS to Montt five days a week (four in low season). (cnr Lord Cochrane & Baquedano; h8:30am-9pm Mon-Fri, 9am-8pm Sat & Sun) F During the wars of independence, Fuerte San An- tonio was Spain’s last Chilean outpost. At Ancud % 65 / POP 40,800 the northwest corner of town, late-colonial Ancud was once a rather wealthy place with cannon emplacements look down on the gracious buildings, palafitos (stilt houses) harbor from the early-19th-century remains and a railway line. But the earthquake of of the fortress. There’s a somewhat-secluded 1960 decimated the town. Today, version 2.0, beach, Playa Gruesa, behind the north wall. though rather quaint, is a sprawling city only peppered with occasional native architecture T Tours leading down to the spectacular waterfront – Austral Adventures OUTDOORS which, by the time you read this, should have (%65-262-5977; www.austral-adventures.com; been made over to include bike paths, a pe- Av Costanera 904) S This is the go-to agen- destrian pier, and multiple seating plazas. cy for English-speaking tours from Ancud, But Ancud’s coup is its natural sur- including extended nature-centric jaunts roundings, and for those who want a taste to see penguins, kayaking on the bay and of Chiloé but don’t have time to head as bird-watching – always with a fierce eco- far south as Castro, its spectacular nearby slant and more elaborate than the cookie- coastline, excellent seafood, cozy hostels and cutter tours. US owner Britt Lewis is impos- proximity to Monumento Natural Islotes de sibly nice and knowledgeable. 280 # 0 200 m Ancud e 0 0.1 miles A B C D Fuerte San Kelgwo (550m); ñ# én D hu Antonio (280m) D Camping Arena Gruesa (580m) Huai 14 û# e O'H n iggins 1 a a 1 r ú# 7 t s h i CHILOÉ CHILOÉ c v o a ÿ# l 5 l C e o d B r n a o d L e u t q t n T A a B o O nc M o U r d R U 11#ú e P S D Prat Prat 2 #þ 2