Whilst the internet holds out I’m attempting to catch up on the backlog…sorry for the ‘overload’!

After our fabulous pelagic experience we travelled back to Santiago and then flew the thousand or so kilometres south to Chiloe Island – about three quarters the way down Chile, on the coast and the wettest place in the country. We stayed for four nights in a cabana at Caulin, on the shores of a picturesque inlet, the approach road to which is along the beach! The general dampness means that it’s also about ten degrees cooler than the mainland, so the log fire was most welcome. It was still low season, despite it being a bank holiday long weekend, so most places were shut, necessitating a 40k road trip to shops and restaurants so we self-catered most of the time. On the first fine day we made an excursion to an off-shore island, the only place in the world where Magellanic and Humboldt penguins breed side by side. The following day we drove to the vibrant (!) ‘capital’ of the island, Castro, to marvel at the houses on stilts – having done so we drove back! Our final day was spent generally sightseeing and birding.

Here are a few shots of the island and it’s wildlife.

Our first afternoon and the sun is shining…so a boat trip to penguin island!

…and the best bit about Penguin Island for me were the Sea Otters

But here are the penguins. This is the only group of islands where the two species Magallenic and Humboldt breed together

Meanwhile, back at our cabana…

Watching the locals gathering kelp. You’ll have to excuse the ‘arty’ shot.

and the iconic Black-necked Swans, emblem of Chile

Speaking of iconic species, here is a poor shot of another of those  birds – Chucao Tapaculo

Rufous-tailed Plantcutter at dusk, behind the cabana

On our sightseeing day to Castro, the famous stilt houses

I’ve nearly cleared the backlog you’ll be pleased to know….