Chiloe Island Day 3

El día siguiente, fuimos con Pablo a la colonia de pingüinos. Manejamos por la ‘Chiloé real’ que consistía de granjas pequeñas, gente que todavía vive una vida simple pero rica. Usan animales en vez de tecnología, trabajan juntos si alguien necesita ayuda, y comen la mayoría de la comida que producen. Muchas personas dirían que son pobres pero ese no es la verdad. Tienen todo que quieren y son felices. Son, en realidad, muy ricos.

Happy pigs

Llegamos a la playa y fuimos con unos pescadores que empezaron este negocio a la colonia de pingüinos.  Cuando gente empezó venir a Chiloé y querían tours, había mucha competencia entre los pescadores. Pero, ellos se regularon así que ahora hay un sistema que garantiza un proceso justo para todos los pescadores. Este es un ejemplo de la calidad de gente en Chiloé.

Después del tour, almorzamos al restaurante en la playa. La dueña es alemana y la esposa de unos de los pescadores. Yo comí empanadas de mariscos y queso. Los mariscos fueron colectados por uno de los pescadores del tour y el queso fue hecho por otro. Deliciosas y muy ‘Slow Food’.

This happened a few times on the drive

Penguins!

The next day, we went to the penguin colony with Pablo. We drove through the ‘real Chiloe’ which consisted of small farms, people who still live a simple but rich life. They use animals instead of technology, they work together when someone needs help, and they eat the majority of the food they produce. Many people would call them poor but that’s not the truth. They have everything they want and they are happy. They are, actually, very rich.

Parts of the island remind me of New Zealand

Pablo, our trusty trilingual guide. It was a bit cold on the water.

We got to the beach and went with the fisherman who started this business at the penguin colony. When people started coming to Chiloe and wanted tours, there was a lot of competition between the fishermen. But, they self-regulated so now there is a system that guarantees a fair process for all the fisherman. This is an example of the quality of people in Chiloe.

View from the boat back to the beach

If only I could remember the names of any of the birds we saw

These islands were one island before the earthquake of the 60s. This illustrates the sheer power of earthquakes. Do you see King Kong?

After the tour, we had lunch at the restaurant on the beach. The owner is german and the wife of one of the fishermen. I ate shellfish and cheese empanadas. The shellfish were gathered by one of the fishermen from the tour and the cheese was made by another. Delicious and very ‘Slow Food’.