We'd read and heard quite a bit about Chiloé and it's one-of-a-kind scenery and vibe. Based in hundreds of years of folklore, some believe in the legends of ghost ships filled with witches, evil forest dwarves that take young girls' virginity and a bull with a single golden horn which can cure various ailments. The region in which it exists is characterized by hundreds of islands with the big island of Chiloé being the main attraction. As seems to happen all over the world, when you leave people isolated on islands, strange things seem to invade their thoughts.
I do have a news flash for anyone that's striken with the image of some kind of tropical paradise when they hear the world island. This place is anything but tropical, although some might consider it a kind of paradise. The scenery was amazingly lush and vibrant. The greenery isn't a miracle though as the area's weather can be characterized as rainy with a chance of more rain. The locals said experiencing at least 3 days without some sort of moderate to heavy rainfall was an anomaly most hadn't seen in their lifetimes. Fortunately for us, the weather held up relatively well during our stay. There were even moments when it was down right lovely.
While driving around the island and seeing the sights was pretty impressive, I wasn't picking up on the special vibe I'd read about the area being famous for. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales where we call 'home'. The people were nice, the weather was grey, there were lots of fishing boats that didn't seem too concerned with fishing... what am I missing? Well upon further research, I discovered that most of the people that now live in our region had ancestors that came from Chiloé, thereby bringing their special brand of being right to my doorstep every day. Now if I could only get the rolling hills, forests and beautiful beaches too, we'd really be in business. I've never been to Ireland or Scotland but I feel like the scenery we saw would resemble something one might find in those countries.
The food was certainly one of the more noteworthy aspects of Chiloé and I must admit, it didn't disappoint. Their staple dish is curanto which is a feast unlike any other I've ever heard of. I'm lucky enough to live in a house where curanto is made somewhat regularly and, although it's not made in the traditional way, I can attest to it's deliciousness. The ingredients consist of various kind of shellfish like mussels and oysters as well as others that don't have English names, chicken, chorizo, potatoes, cabbage and a potato pancake-ish thing called chapalele. Traditionally, all these things are placed in a hole in the ground with hot rocks and left alone for a few hours until ready to eat. At my house, it's made in a huge pot as a sort of stew with a little bit of water and a whole bunch of white wine. Drinking the broth has become my favorite part.
I have to send special credit to some street vendors outside the bus station in Castro, the large capital city of Chiloé, for making the most delicious empanada and milcao, which is just like chapalele but fried instead, I've ever had. The empanada I had was filled with apples and tasted like everything a McDonald's baked apple pie should. It was probably about the size of my face and it only cost a dollar. We also got to find 'Mapuche viagra', also known as piure, on a beach outside the city of Ancud. Our tour guide told us that it's supposed to be very healthy to eat raw and described it as not an animal and not a plant but just a thing because it somehow feeds on it's own itself in order to grow. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I couldn't bring myself to eat it because it looked like an old soggy, worn basketball on the outside yet had a tapioca-esque pink and orange inside. I did lick it though. There's a picture to prove it somewhere.
I'm definitely glad we made it to Chiloé and felt it's famous rains dot our foreheads for a few days. The relaxed, kind nature of the people really make it a great place to enjoy life at a slower pace. I loved it for all the reasons I love Punta Arenas and then some.
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