A two-hour boat ride from Castro brings me again to Quehui Island, one of many in the Chiloé archipelago. About 1,000 people live here, descendents of indigenous Chono and Huilliche people who have been here for centuries, Spanish settlers, and sundry English and Dutch pirates. Patricio is my host at his B&B, Turismo Quehui.
Los Angeles church, Quehui. This architecture is typical of dozens of churches throughout the archipelago. Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries began their proselytizing in Chiloé in the early 17th century.
Low tide in Estero Pindo. In summer, December-March, there is electricity only from 9pm to midnight from the town generator. Transportation to the island is only by boat, though there is a small airstrip nearby. Everything, from people to toilet paper and cars, arrive by boat, large and small. The public boat service is once a day, every day but Sunday.
A favorite activity is strolling a few kilometers in any direction
View of the town from across the estero.
Farmhouse on the estero.
Don Pedro at the palo. Sunday is a day for family to gather in the quincho (outdoor barbeque area) and roast fresh lamb on the spit, called asado al palo, and enjoyed throughout Chile. Patricio’s parents and brother live nearby and we enjoy the roast meat, potatoes dug from the garden just hours ago, fresh lettuce and tomatoes. Red wine is the favored beverage, though the attendants at the spit consumed plenty of beer as the meat roasted.
Patricio peeling potatoes in the quincho.
Roger, maestro del asado.
“Salud” in the quincho.
My friend Max(imilian).
Casona (photo Lorena Cretier)Click here to view the video slide show from my visit last year during the annual island celebration.
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