Chiloe

If it weren't for the smell of dog pee and the fact that I nearly blew us up trying to turn on the oven, the cabana where I woke up yesterday might have been perfect. We were on Chiloe, an archipelago that runs along the coast of Chile from Puerto Montt to Chaiten. From the picture window of our dilapidated cabana I could see the ocean and the bluffs of nearby islands. The sky couldn't make up its mind and I was treated to the sound of rain but a patch of sunlight - at least for a few moments before the weather changed again. When Ila woke up we had breakfast, then walked on the beach below us for an hour before heading to Castro the central city of Chiloe, a fishing village further south. I'd been looking forward to seeing the famous houses on stilts and brightly painted churches. Chiloe's very quaint, but as it turned out, the island had a seedy run-down feel that was somewhat depressing.

Yesterday, on the advice of the woman who runs the cabanas, we took a dirt road through green farmland down to the beach where we found a bunch of enterprising fishermen offering boat tours to the rocks to see penguins, sea lions, otters and cormorants. There were seven passengers on our little boat and despite assurances that the waters were calm we hit some choppy water making the trip that much more of an adventure. We did see all of those animals, though the penguins have mostly migrated so there were just a few hanging around on the rocks. It was a good trip, worth the effort for the blast of fresh ocean air.

Now we're back in Puerto Varas again making plans for the next phase and working through another minor stomach bug with Ila. Again, we took her to the doctor to make sure nothing serious was going on, and again we were told to relax and just monitor her diet. But it's hard, for this anxious mother, to feel comfortable continuing our journey given the impact it seems to be having on little Moo. We'll head up to Buenos Aires shortly, then make our decision from there...