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After getting off of the ferry from Puerto Natales (" all the charm of stowing away on a freighter" according to the Lonely Planet guide!) we went to the island of Chiloe for some culture. The big attraction was Maggalenic and Humbolt penguins.
We also took in an accordion festival. 4 different acts per hour for two days! My favourite was the teen soloist who played death metal on his accordion (Ivan, I have a vague recollection of you once playing some Elvis on your accordion- here is a chance for you to expand your repertoire!). We got to try the local special - curanto, a mix of shellfish, sausage, chicken, potatoes and dumplings. Traditionally, it was prepared by burying coals, putting all of the food on top, covering it with leaves, soaking it in wine and then leaving the whole thing to steam for few hours. Now they just boil them up in big cauldrons.
The part of Chilean cruise that I like the most is CAKE. They call them tortas, kuchen, tarta or cake - all of them are fantastic! Some people have suggested that it is a German influence.
European influence is strongly seen in their churches. In the northern most part of Chile, the churches are made of adobe and look Mexican. In the centre, they are made of stone and look gothic. There are almost a hundred churches for the 30,000 inhabitants of the island of Chiloe and they took inspiration from Europe, but adapted their ship building skills to create some of the oldest standing wooden structures in the world. This church still has most of the original construction and was built in 1730.
The interior has seen some repairs, but most of the wood is original. A super hard, weather resistant tree called the Accaruia was used to build the churches - the same wood was used in their boats. The tree is now almost extinct, so it is illegal to chop down live ones. Mass is still celebrated every Sunday. While many of our Catholic priests in Canada are from the Philippines, many priests in Chile are from Spain. The current pope is from Argentina, but the locals don't care for him much ( unlike just about everywhere else in the world, where he is becoming one of the most popular popes of all time). It may be because he is Argentine ( neighbours don't always get along) or because the locals still adore pope John Paul, who visited Chile at great personal risk during the time of their military dictatorship.
I got there just as the opening hymn started and sat in the middle. By the end of the mass, there were twice as many people in the church. I guess punctuality is not highly prized amongst church goers!
In some of the churches, the locals wanted the pillars to look like marble, so they painted them.
Every church has a bell tower! We're we scared climbing 200 year ladders? Nope. Hmmm. Maybe we should have been.
In the main city of Castro, a church has been on the same site since 1467, but has burned down three times. The most recent church is very new - it was finished in 1907. The locals wanted the exterior to look like a European cathedral, so hand painted and hammered these tin plates for the exterior to resemble stones.
The interior is done all in wood, creating one of the most beautiful church settings I have ever seen.
In Castro, we stayed in a Palafito, a traditional shore structure built on stilts. The tides are so great that during high tide the water is at the top of the stilts!
There is also a lot of varied and beautiful scenery on the island, including huge remote beaches, swamps and some areas of jungle.
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