After Bariloche we returned to Chile. We chose the 8-hour bus option because of time and cost. It wasn’t so bad, they had coffee, snacks, Spanish movies and poor wifi. It felt safe, and other than the hassle in both directions in both countries for immigration it was a pretty smooth journey without all the hullabaloo of the airport. The immigration process takes about an hour in each country where you have to unload the whole bus with all the luggage to be screened by either dogs or electric screeners and then the immigration officers have to process each person.
Back in Chile we got a rental car and headed down to Chiloé Island. There we stayed in a dome cabin, which was pretty cool. It had good internet, so Andrzej was able to get some school work done and I began to reach out to prepare for applying for jobs as I had recently found out my work back home was not able to keep me onboard with their current workload.
On Chiloé , we also explored the island’s natural attractions. We went to a reserve on the western coast of the island which was a mixture of old growth forests and low lying wind swept shrubs. We explored the beach where we found horses grazing the dunes along the shore. We ate a delicious meal in a very cute restaurant full of antiques and character. We saw the stilt houses floating above the water that is a quintessential image of Chiloé. We went on a penguino tour at the Islotes de Puñihuil Natural Monument where boats and guides are waiting for you without a reservation to take groups out for an hour tour. The monument is notable for being the only known shared breeding site of the Humboldt and Megellanic penguins. There were also many other bird species here including pelicans, the red-legged cormorant, and the Fuegian steamer duck. It was really neat to get so close to these birds who didn’t seem to mind us at all.
