- Ship
- 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Spend the day exploring Chiloé’s culture and natural history, with a choice of excursions. One group will explore Chiloé's cultural history, seeing its attractive palafitos, colorful fishermen’s houses precariously built on stilts along the water’s edge. Somepalafitos are now restaurants serving fine Chilean food, and you’ll have lunch at one of them. The town of Castro has little shops and a large open-air market where the Chileans show their indigenous wares, such as alpaca sweaters and lapis jewelry. Visit some of the welcoming small communities that dot the countryside and learn about a unique way of life. One of the unique features of the island's history and culture is its wooden churches, collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The churches and many of the houses are covered in protective shells of wooden shingles in artistic designs. Alternatively, choose to visit Puñihuil Natural Monument and go out in a local boat to see the wildlife that inhabits the islets just offshore. Enterprising fishermen in the area started offering boat excursions to these exceptional places some years ago. Both Humboldt and Magellanic penguins live here, along with the handsome red-legged cormorant, American and blackish oystercatchers, Peruvian pelicans, Peruvian boobies, and a number of other species. We may also be fortunate enough to see marine otters. You'll have a traditional Chiloé-style lunch called curanto: mussels, clams, potatoes, chicken, sausage and a number of other ingredients, all cooked in a pit and covered with leaves. We then explore the historic and atmospheric town of Ancud, seeing the San Antonio Fortress, whose capture in 1826 marked the end of Spanish rule in the region; the central plaza, adorned with figures representing local mythology; the interesting market; and the foundation that helps preserve and restore the many churches of Chiloé, a number of which collectively are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Return to your ship in the late afternoon.