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<\/a><\/p>\nThere have been so many great photo opportunities on this cruise it’s been hard to keep track!<\/p>\n
Once in Castro we had an excursion with Turismo Pangue<\/a><\/strong>, a local operator.\u00a0 \u00a0We originally were going to book via Viator<\/a><\/strong> but we worked out a deal by booking them direct and paying in US cash.\u00a0 Our guide was Magdalena and she was excellent!!\u00a0 Our first stop was the gorgeous Tocoihue waterfall.\u00a0 There are two very short hikes to get the view from the top of the falls…<\/p>\n …and then the bottom of the falls.<\/p>\n We then ventured to a long boardwalk that leads to tiny Aucar Island, known as the Island of the Sailing Souls.\u00a0 It was named by a local writer that compared it to a ship who’s dead sailors await to set sail.<\/p>\n It was surprisingly crowded, and it wasn’t even a weekend.<\/p>\n Here is a shot looking back from the island.\u00a0 Yet another gorgeous day in Chile!<\/p>\n On the island is this gorgeous church which was unfortunately closed.<\/p>\n These buzzards were lurking on the cross of the church, which gave it a rather foreboding feeling, like a setting of a Stephen King story.<\/p>\n One last shot as we departed the island.<\/p>\n On the way to our next stop we ran into a little bit of traffic.<\/p>\n We then stopped at another church, this one the Church of Colo, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.\u00a0 Note the buzzards on the cross.\u00a0 WTF?<\/p>\n The interior is quite colorful, and the ceiling is said to mimic\u00a0 the hull of a ship.<\/p>\n We’ve seen a lot of these small ship models hanging in the altar space of the churches in South America, a tribute to the local fisherman.<\/p>\n Guess what we visited next….another church!\u00a0 This is the Church of Tenaun, yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site.\u00a0 A total of 16 churches on Chiloe Island were declared World Heritage Sites in 2020.<\/p>\n Once again the ceiling is said to mimic the hull of a ship, a trend here on the island.<\/p>\n The final stop of the excursion was in the small town of Dalcahue, where we had plenty of time for lunch and a little bit of shopping.\u00a0 Be cautioned, there isn’t a lot of English spoken here, but our guide helped us translate like a pro.\u00a0 My first impression when we arrived was “they have their own version of Pier 39 here”.<\/p>\n The town has it’s own UNESCO World Heritage church, and best of all, no buzzards!\u00a0 I will say I was unimpressed with the church interior, to the point I didn’t even take a photo.\u00a0 This town needs to up their game!<\/p>\n We had the tour guide drop us off in downtown Castro, which was only a 10 minute walk back to the tender dock.\u00a0 Just off the central square is our last church of the day, the UNESCO World Heritage Church of San Francisco.\u00a0 Built in 1912 completely out of native wood with no nails and using only traditional carpentry techniques.<\/p>\n The wooden interior is stunning!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n