The Enchanted Forest
On Friday I arrived on the storybook island of Chiloé. Its quaint fishing villages with houses built on stilts over the water and picturesque fields with grazing cows brings you back a century in time. Out of all the placecs that I have visited in Chile- this is the one place where I could live...if the government didn´t have plans to build the biggest brige in South America connecting Chiloé to the mainland.Although this bridge will offer much better healthcare for Chilotes (they don´t consider themselves Chilean- Chilote is the culture created amongst the indigenous people and the original settlers from the 18th century that has continually strengthened due to the island`s isolation from Chilean influence), I think that the island will lose a lot of its charm. On Saturday night, I listened to a hip hop Chilote group that sang about this very topic- how the bridge will be built to take things away from the island (wood, culture, family structure, tranquility) and to bring things that they don´t want (McDonald´s, movie theaters, more people, pop culture).
As of right now, I have fallen in love with this island, and especially its folklore. I visited the national park and walked through the enchanted forest where the troll and fairies live. Good thing I escaped without any problems- they say that this troll drugs young girls and gets them pregnant (thus explaining any unwanted pregnancies:-) )
While in the enchanted forest, my camara ran out of batteries (of course) so I didn´t get any of the REALLY good pictures of the day- the sandy beaches with ravenous birds eating their prey, the bridge shaped like a boat, the mussel collectors (I wouldn´t call them fishermen because they use really thick wetsuits and collect the mussels a couple huundred meters out from the beach), the mermaid that appeared...no just kidding- that is just another part of the legends.
After Sunday´s shopping trip at the local craft fair in Dalcahue I went to a gastronomic festival in a tiny town called Pid-Pid. I participated in the potato sack race and would`ve won (I was way ahead of the other five chicas) had I not fallen five feet before the finish line. :-O I also helped out in the tug-of-war but the Chilotes beat the Chileans (I was on the Chilean team).
I´m now in Valdivia and am going to try to go to the Kuntsmann beer factory. I`ll probably eat some lunch there and then head to Pucón to try and do some volcano climbing...
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