So far we have avoided getting wet (rain I mean, not swimming). This came to an abrupt halt when we got the bus the Chiloe. The rain came down heavy and the wind howled. The bus rolled onto the ferry with visibility so bad we hardly noticed we were on the water. 20 minutes later we were wizzing through the puddles towards Ancud. Chiloe is known to be a mysterious island. There are 3 national parks, there are penguins, there are houses on stilts and there is regional cuisine. We had been planning a longer stay on the island (4 or 5 nights) but the weather prompted us to scale this back. We headed to Ancud because that’s the nearest place with any kind of infrastructure to the little port where you get the boat to see the penguins. We had got a very early bus so we arrived at Ancud bus station at around 10am. The rain was still coming down and the gale was in full swing so we got a taxi to the hotel who informed us that the room would be free between 1pm and 2pm. We dumped the luggage and went in search of adventure. Or at least breakfast! Armed with one umbrella between 2 (inside out most of the time) we trudged through the urban jungle of Ancud. Streets turned into rivers we struggled to find a cafe. Literally nothing open on a Sunday morning. We found another drenched couple and asked them where to find an open cafe. They said they were just about to ask us the same thing. Finally we found somewhere down a dark alley (or at least they did) and we were saved. We splashed out!
Later we found out the boat trips to Penguin Island were all cancelled due to the weather conditions. We did see 1 penguin however so not a wasted trip.
In the afternoon the rain stopped so we could take a few photos. In the evening the pub was very nice. So not too bad really.
