Chiloé ... hey hey

For the next leg of our journey, we hopped a ferry to Chiloé Island ... part of Chile, but, as my host parents said, "otro mundo" ... another world. And it's huge, for an island. About the size of Connecticut. And it's full of cliffs, penguins, ocean, and hills.

Let's start by describing the city of Ancud, via photos.

There's our trusty bus! Allison thinks the mirrors look like ant feelers ...

We met a woman named Silvia. She waddled in her poofy purple coat as she directed our lost little selves to the hostel.

And that hostel was awesome. 

We dropped off our stuff, then headed to the "penguin sanctuary." What do YOU think of when you hear "penguin sanctuary"? I was thinking something along the lines of a glorified zoo ... maybe with fresher fish and real glass walls instead of smudgy plexi-glass? Ha! Just look.

There's a penguin! Can you see him?

Then we wandered around town. Ate ample seafood. And rested up for BICENTENARIO!

Since I had such a positive response about my flowers last post, I decided to add some more!

And then we headed to the capital of Chiloé (Castro) for bicentenario celebrations. In the morning, we walked along the water's edge and snapped some shots of houses on stilts, or palafitos.

And then we stumbled upon a parade. We were seriously, I kid you not, the only foreigners amidst a sea of hundreds of Chileans. That wasn't just a big deal for us. The Chileans were pretty surprised too. One video-taped us very obviously. Another couple asked for a group picture. We were a rarity in those parts.

Do you think his stomach is real? We couldn't reach a consensus ...

This little girl was manning her own horse! Until she almost toppled over ...

And we went to a beautiful church, made completely of wood on the inside.

And, as our last excursion on Chiloé, we stopped into Achao for ... mmm ... maybe an hour-and-a-half. We were falsely led to believe that it was a hoppin' place with lots to see. Not so, my friends. But there were many shingle houses. And a beach. And a mysterious fruit on a beach. And a beautiful nighttime scene.

And with that, we say, "Good night Chiloé. Hola Puerto Varas!"