2020 Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Castro, Chile, Part 1 of 2

I was excited today as Castro was a new port for me. Again, I arose very early (dark outside) for very pretty sail in through the Castro Fjord. I was memorized by the colorful city, the houses on stilts and the tremendous reflections…   This is pretty obvious by the insane number of photos I posted of Castro…  We tendered ashore on an early boat into Castro to meet our guide Portia from Chiloé Natural. We met our friend John on the pier...John was looking for his tour group and finally realized he had the wrong port and day...we rescued him and asked him to join us. Off we went exploring!  Chiloé Island has long been one of the least developed areas of Chile, with a natural beauty that now charms visitors from around the world...Sixteen wooden churches clustered around Castro have UNESCO World Heritage status, and traditional Palafitos (houses on stilts) dot its shores. We started the tour in Castro going first the Plaza de Armas...from here we walked a number of blocks to the Gamboa Viewpoint, overlooking the Gamboa River...Here we saw the Palafitos. Returning to the town square, we saw the first of the UNESCO churches, the colorful San Francisco Cathedral, built in 1906. The Churches of Chiloé represent a surviving example of wooden architecture whereby local craftsmen used shipbuilding techniques in the construction to build the churches entirely of wood. Before leaving Castro, we visited the local market with its display of fruit, vegetables and seafood products. Next, we drove up to the Mirador del Cerro Millantuy, observation point overlooking the cemetery, river and the city below. We left Castro and went to Nercón, located to the south and visited the Nercón Church, another UNESCO World Heritage Site originally built in 1890. Next, we went to the San Carlos de Borromeo Church in Chonchi. Chonchi is known as the three-story town, because its houses form a step-like arrangement on the hillside to the water...here we walked from the church down to the water. We had a nice refreshment break before making our way through the rolling countryside offering lush scenery and a glimpse into the Chiloé culture and day-to-day life making a quick stop the village of Huillinco where we saw the church, cemetery and the Huillinco Lake. We made our last church stop in the hamlet of Vilupulli at the Vilupulli Church. Returning to Castro we stopped alongside the Gambia River to see the black-necked swans before returning to the pier. We had a great day in Chiloé thanks to Portia of Chiloé Natural.