5th Jan: Our original plan was to go on an organised day trip down to the island of Chiloe and see a penguin colony but the tour was full. So last night we accepted an offer to have a private tour with the owner of the hostel, Mauricio, who came across as a warm approchab le guy with a good command of English. In reality, there hadn't been anyone that we had met so far on the trip that I would say was unfriendly. Admittedly the level of service in a couple of the restaurants wasn't up to much, but overall people were genuinely approachable. Then again, most people we had come across were either working in the service industries or used to dealing with tourists.
We are picked up by Mauricio around 8:30am and have a good hour's drive down to get the ferry over to the island of Chiloe, which is the largest of Chile's islands. The sky is very cloudy with just the odd bit of blue sky, but at least it isn't raining. It is a 30 min ferry ride across the narrow straits between mainland Chile and Chiloe. During the journey we see a few sea lions swimming in the sea nearby, but no signs of any dolphins. It is during the journey that I am chatting to Mauricio about my stolen cameras and the restrictions it has placed on me. He lets on the he has a canon slr, in fact he has it in the car. Surprisingly he lets me use it for the rest of the day, which is a much needed blessing, and does mean that for at least 1 day I am not having to borrow Mandy's camera. Once we land on Chiloe, we admire some black headed swans before driving along the coast a little to a small village where they collect seaweed, which is used by a large processing plant on the mainland. There are also a number of birds in the small estuary where we stop. These include pilpilen, sarapitos and a couple of types of gul as well as more black headed swans. I admit to not being a twitcher, but it is always nice to see birds in their natural habitats. I also get to take a lot of photos and explain to Mauricio some of the functions on his camera that he wasn't even aware of, especially to explain how I am able to get shots of birds taking off/landing. I also get some shots of a couple of guys with a couple of cows and a cart
collecting seaweed.
We then drive on to Ancud, the 2nd largest town on the island. Walk around the small market which is interesting in some of the goods on sale as well as the photo opportunities of the locals, many of whom are of Chiloen Indian descent. The sun has come out so it is nice to walk around watchign people carrying on with their day to day chores. This is not a place aimed at tourists. We then jump back into the car and make the hour long drive to Punihuil, which is where the penguin colony is. The journey is not that far in terms of miles, it is just that much of it is along a gravel track that is currently being worked on by a couple of large vehicles. Have to say that I think the car takes a bit of a battering from the gravel. By the time we get to the beach it is getting overcast again and there is a bit of a breeze, but I am looking forward to the boat trip. They have an interesting means of getting us onto the boat without getting wet. Once we have put on our lifejackets we climb aboard a wooden platform on wheels, which is then pushed out into the sea, allowing to step aboard the boat.
This whole operation used to be run by the Otway foundation, but the locals saw the money earning potential and got rid of the charity, unfortunately it also meant that financial input for research and money from researchers staying dried up. Typical short-sightedness.
We are out in the boat with 3 german women as well as 2 crewmen. We are out for about 45 mins and I take lots of photos, trying to get shots of the penguins entering the water and cormorants taking off or landing. There are two types of penguins that gather here at certain times of the year, Megellan and Humbolt, the latter only having 1 strip across their chest. Do get to see some entering and leaving the water as well as catching a glimpse of a sea beaver running along one of the small islands. Luckily, the camera battery runs out just as we are heading back to shore. Once back on dry land it is time for a bite to eat at one of the 3 seafront restaurants. I have a local speciality, which is Abolone Empanada, which I have to say I am not that impressed with. Also get to have a orange fanta, well it is an island although not quite a new country. Not sure if I have mentioned it earlier in my blog, but whenever I go to a new country, my first drink is invariably an Orange Fanta, ideallly out of a bottle. Yes, I know it is a disgusting sugary drink, but it is one of those quirky things I have done for years and don't see any reason to stop now.
After lunch it is a walk back up the hill to where the car is parked, then a short drive along the coast to a spot where we can go for a walk for an hour. It is basically a walk out to a headland to see if we can spot a colony of sealions. Unfortunately, they must have known we were coming as there isn't any around. At least the walk was a chance to stretch our legs as well as admire the striking coastline, whcih reminds me a bit of that seen whilst on the Ocean Road in Oz. Do get to see some more small brightly coloured lizards. Mauricio also demonstrates a local trick for dealing with horseflies. Whenever he catches one, he gets a piece of the wild grass and shoves it up the fly's arse, so when it takes off it is off balance, assuming it can take off. Now I don't condone cruelty to animals, even insects, but I can't say I was going to stop him due to the highly irritating nature of the damned things.
Back to the car for the drive home. As we cross the straits in the ferry, we do see more sealions sitting on a couple of pillars in the water. There are some young ones that are climbing onto the pillars then jumping off. Too far away to get good shots with Mandy's camera.
I pursuade Mauricio to drive us home via Puerto Montt so that I can check out cameras at the 3 large stores which are all in one shopping centre. This means we get to drive past the port area, which is pretty substantive. See ships that do cruises down along the fiorrds as well as fishing vessels. Once in the shopping centre it is a dash to get around the stores to see what they have. All the SLRs are basic and too expensive, so I have to accept purchasing a compact. I end up with a Fuji that takes AA batteries, which suits me as I have a charger and some batteries with me. Now the fun starts. The assistant tries to go through a long process of demonstrating some of the key functions and I get Mauricio to point out to her that I just want teh camera, I can work out the relevant functions myself. She then gets another boxed camera and hands it to the check out assistant. I am 3rd in the queue, but have to wait whilst the guy is trying to sell extended warranty to someone else. I ask Mauricio to make sure that he doesn't try to do that to me. Once I have paid for my camera, I have to go back to the original sales assistant to actually have it put in a bag for me, she proceeds to open the box and check that all the contents are there. Whilst she is doing this someone else takes the camera to have a look at it. I reckon it takes 20 mins for me to actually have the bag and get out of the store, when it could have taken less than 5. Not sure I will ever complain again about having to wait in the UK!
Back into the car and back to P Varas, a quick bite to eat after being dropped off in town. Then a relatively early night.
The bad news is that I can't edit the photos I took today on this PC, so the ones attached are all Mandy's.
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