Chiloe, Chile

We feasted on hostal breakfast with smashing homemade raspberry jam (they really have tons of raspberries here, very popular fruit). Hiked to the car with our bags and set off for Chiloè island. This was about 2 hours south, then a ferry before another 2 hours to our destination of Park National Chiloè. I was keen to try and maximise our days as you could easily just drive all day in this part of the world. The ferry across was great, about 20minutes but we saw seals playing nearby and Justin may have seen a dolphin? The drive on the other side took us through Castro, the main town and past our accommodation. Park National Chiloè is about two thirds of the way down the island and on the west coast. We abandoned our car on the verge and set off on one of the trails. It is clearly a popular walking spot for families, we completed a loop in the forest where we saw native tepel trees, ferns and massive fushia hedges. The second loop took us to the west and took in a viewpoint of the Pacific beach. Amazingly wide, could imagine a great horse race along it! Back in the car we set off to find tonight’s accommodation, met our host in the turn off on the steep drive (this car is really taking in all terrains) and as we climbed up we could see the wooden dome that was home tonight. It was a fantastic place to stay, epic views and a log burner so we elected to wrestle the Castro traffic to a supermarket so we could eat at home. Great steak salad and wine was enjoyed by all as we watched night set in over the water below.