Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Castro, Chiloé Island, Chile... Part 1 of 2

I was up early before sunrise, and it was very chilly at 31F…my hands were frozen. The temperature plus the strong wind made the wind chill pretty brisk!  Despite the freezing temperatures, it was a nice sail through the Castro Fjord to see the colorful city of Castro. We tendered ashore on an early boat into Castro to meet our guide Macarena from Chiloé Natural…Off we went exploring! A rainbow assortment of palafitos (wooden houses on stilts) are the unofficial calling card of Castro, the capital city of Chiloé Island. Once home to thousands of farmers and a target for European pirates, Castro was established in the 16th century and is Chile’s third-oldest city. We started the tour walking along the harbor front and then we visited the local market with its display of crafts, fruit, vegetables and seafood products. Returning to the Plaza de Armas, we visited the yellow, early-20th-century San Francisco Church with its 2 steeples and a distinctive wooden interior towering above the square. From here we walked a number of blocks to the Gamboa Viewpoint, overlooking the Gamboa River...our view across the river was the colorful wooden stilt houses lining the waterfront. Leaving Castro, we 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. 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. 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 along the water and we were greeted by a number of classic cars from Santiago involved in the 2023 Adventure Rally in the Chiloe region. We made our last church stop in the hamlet of Vilupulli at the Vilupulli Church. We had a nice drive back to Castro through the rolling countryside offering lush scenery and a glimpse into the Chiloé culture…it was a beautiful sunny day. Returning to Castro we stopped alongside the Gambia River to see the stilt houses from a different vantage point. Another great day in Chiloé thanks to Macarena and Chiloé Natural… This a wonderful Grand Voyage!!!