Thanks for checking in. I've made my way north and over the border to Mendoza, Argentina, or--as one strange cab driver told me and Avinadh early in the trip--the land of "women like horses." Remains unclear what he meant, exactly.
But first, let's talk about Chiloe! I wound up in Castro, which is the primary "city." Pretty small, really. But cool, an old fishing port. I walked all around looking for a hostel, and ended up in a nice house/hostel thing. Not very social, at all. Howrver, within minutes I'd encountered an American couple haggling with the owner in the hallway outside my room. Their names are Owen and Marcella, and although they didn't end up staying in my hostel, they did stay next door and were great companions for the next few days.
We went out for lunch that first day, and I got some curanto, which is a traditional dish in the area. Allow me to describe: chicken, beef, pork, on top of shellfish. Observe.
There were also seals popping up in the window you see there. But they popped down as soon as my camera came out, so sorry.
Later in the day, we met up with an Aussie friend from the ferry, Reanna, and got a pretty sweet salsa lesson at a rather empty dance club that night. However, it was a woman who we were imitating,and she didn't demonstrate any male moves. Therefore, my salsa repertoire now consists largely of sultry hip swinging, chest shaking, and flamboyant arm movements. Alas.
The next day was largely dedicated to laying low and relaxing. Netflix works when the wifi does, and so I watched a good deal of House. I did check out the giant wooden church in town. There was a ceremony going on, complete with a super cute fat toddler in formal garb.
Old wooden churches are a thing on Chiloe, apparently. This one was quite gawdy outside, but remarkable inside.
So with all this lounging around and whatnot, I arrived at the decision to go camping in Parque Nacional Chiloe for a couple of nights. Even better, the dynamic trio of Owen, Marcella, and Reanna decided to come along! The next day, we headed out and took a very interesting/crowded/haphazard bus ride out to the boondocks of Chiloe and the entrance to the park.
The camping area was really great. Fire pit, covered table, well protected and flat. Friendly stray ("community-owned") dogs included! The hiking in this park is a bit lacking, especially compared to what I'd been doing down in Patagonia. Really, this was just an excuse to get out of town and relax. That we did. We spent about two days and two nights, which included lots of good cooking, sandwiches made with love courtesy of Owen, some walking, and cards. Also, rain, as the ecosystem is basically a rainforest. It didn't get us down, though, and the weather was actually quite nice during the day.
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