A farmer was turning his field with two oxen yoked to a plow; a flock of seagulls flapped behind. The landscape was a soft, rolling green, dotted with fluffy sheep and yellow gorse. This was Chilo茅 (pronounced chill-oh-AY) Island, and it felt like I had stepped a century back in time.
Chile is an unusual string bean of a country, stretching 4,300 kilometres from the Atacama Desert 鈥� the driest place on Earth 鈥� in the north, to the windswept, wave-wracked Tierra del Fuego in the south.
Approximately in the centre lies Santiago, the bustling capital. I spent a happy day exploring the city and surrounded valleys overflowing with lush vines and elegant wineries before heading south to the Chilo茅 archipelago. An airport that began offering flights in 2012, several hotels and many guesthouses have opened up the region 鈥� once the domain of intrepid backpackers 鈥� to a wider spectrum of travellers.
My goal was to explore the islets鈥� rustic nature before it transformed into a jaded major tourist destination. Secretly, I also wanted to probe Chilo茅鈥檚 reputation for witches, dark deeds and supernatural happenings.
The first morning, I joined a tour to Castro, the main town. A row of colourful palafitos (houses on stilts) lined the bay, many converted into trendy B&Bs and caf茅s.
Salmon and shellfish were being unloaded in a harbour crowded with boats, most with peeling paint and rusty gear. A man was single-handedly building a 12-metre wooden boat from logs using not much more than a chainsaw, hammer and T-square.
When I entered the crowded market, the aromas of strange spices, meats, and cheeses enveloped me.
Silvery fish, piles of clams, and sinuous octopi were arrayed on crushed ice. Several types of seaweed were offered for sale.
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> See ARCHITECTURAL, page D8
Cochallullo, bull kelp, a part of the local diet, was tied up in packets using the long thin strands of the kelp itself.
Juan Pablo, our guide, explained that Chiloe, along with the Peruvian Andes, is where the world鈥檚 potatoes began. More than 400 varieties of spuds are grown on these isles. Market stands sold potatoes two ways, papas normales (standard potatoes) and others, papas nativas, in bags with many different varieties - black, red, green, yellow, in all sorts of odd shapes - all jumbled up together.
In another section I jostled through a kaleidoscope of colourful woolen scarves, hats, and mittens while enjoying the rolling Rs and sibilant Ss of Spanish all around. From a table crammed with wooden carvings, I selected a top that I struggled to spin with a long piece of string.
We strolled through the gardens of the central square and entered San Francisco church. In the dimness we whispered as we marvelled at the attractiveness and warm feeling of wood, a contrast to the cold stone of European cathedrals. The church was built as the 鈥淐athedral of Castro鈥� in 1567 when the town was founded by the Spanish. The wooden church burned down several times, but each time was re-built, most recently in 1906.
Jesuit missionaries constructed hundreds of churches in the 18th and 19th centuries in an attempt to bring Christianity to a pagan land - but not with complete success. Due to its isolation from the rest of Chile, and easy access to timber, Chilo茅 developed a unique architecture that differs from the Spanish colonial style found in the rest of Chile. The humid weather and fire have taken a toll, however, and today only about 75 of the original churches remain. Built by locals, many of the domed roofs look like boats鈥� hulls, reflecting their talent for ship-building. Fishermen use the steeples as markers to navigate their way along the misty wrinkles of the coast, just as their forebears did. Sixteen of the churches are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Although indigenous people are Catholics now and enter these churches on Sundays, they also retain ancient traditions, and often visit shamans, instead of doctors. I was intrigued
Wood and wood shingles are also the main construction material for many other buildings. Wood shingles are so common that for a while they were even used as money.
Juan Pablo led us to the home of an indigenous lady for lunch. We sat around a table as Albertina served three kinds of empanadas made with razor clams, salmon, and cheese as well as purple potatoes, all washed down by juice from murta and nalca berries. All the ingredients were locally grown or caught from the bay across the road. Spiced with garlic, cumin, and parsley, the food was cooked on a black, iron stove fired by wood - and was delicious.
Out of Albertina鈥檚 earshot, Juan Pablo explained that the indigenous people, the Huilliches, don鈥檛 like to talk about it, but believe in trolls, ghouls, and mythological lore. Witches are powerful and deal with many disputes. And there are enchanting legends. The Trauco, for example, is a forest dwarf who covers himself in bark and is irresistible to virgins, a scenario often used to explain unwed pregnancies in villages.
At the Chiloe National Park on the west coast, we followed trails and boardwalks deep into the bogs and wetlands. Rain fell and the wind occasionally turned our umbrellas inside out. I learned that a penguin colony lives near here and blue whales, dolphins, sea lions and sea otters swim offshore. 鈥淪tay on the trails,鈥� warned Juan Pablo. The tangled, dense growth rested on 鈥渇alse soil,鈥� that is, the vegetation floats on water and one can easily fall through. Perfect place for trolls, I thought.
鈥淪ome moss here holds 20 times its volume in water,鈥� explained Juan Pablo, 鈥渁nd acts as a reservoir releasing water during dry periods.鈥� Due to its isolation, there are several endemic species in Chiloe including the Magellan woodpecker, the world鈥檚 largest. Little wonder that Charles Darwin spent six months here in 1834. Our guide told us that Darwin found the local indigenous people the ugliest he had ever seen. 鈥淏ut they weren鈥檛 offended,鈥� he added with a smile.
I was attracted to cemeteries, which were like villages of the dead, with many small, brightly coloured houses scattered among the tombstones. Most of the graves were overflowing with flowers, often made of plastic. I imagined the crowds and tears on November 1, the D铆a de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
At dinners, we recounted the day鈥檚 adventures over glasses of full-bodied Chilean wines. The ceviche of salmon included buttery scallops and shrimp. The conger eel was lightly fried in garlic oil. Grilled octopus was served with three types of potatoes. One day we had a gastronomic treat, the traditional curanto. A hole in the ground was filled with red-hot rocks and then layers of mussels, clams, meat, sausage, and potatoes between large nalca (rhubarb) leaves, and cooked for hours. The resulting meal had an earthy, smoky flavour. Quite a show, and it tasted fant谩stico!
I loved Chilo茅 and its slow-paced, timeless way of life. However, I didn鈥檛 wander into the forest at night.
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Hans Tammemagi is a writer and photographer living on Pender Island.
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If You Go, You Gotta Know
Chile Information: chile.travel/en/
Two superb hotels: Quilquico (www.hpq.cl/en) and Tierra Chilo茅 (www.tierrachiloe.com/en)
Currency: 1 Canadian $ = 521 Chilean pesos
Electricity: Chile uses 220 Volts. Bring a transformer & plug adapter.
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