A few days in Chonchi, Chiloé

We were just in Chonchi for three days, enjoying some down time. Chonchi is a town of about 10,000 peope on the island of Chiloé. It´s very peaceful (except for when something sets the neighborhood dog chorus off) and beautiful, perched right on a big bay. It´s traditionally a fishing village, and in the last few years the salmon industry has been a big boon to the area. We stayed in a residencial (private home that takes in renters) where about 10 scuba divers who worked for one of the salmon companies are living. These guys were amazing - their job is basically scuba diving for about an hour at a time down to 120 feet to fix the big anchored nets that enclose the farmed salmon. Sea lions are their biggest headache - ripping holes in the nets to get into the salmon.

The photos are of the Chonchi church (one of the famed Chilote wooden churches), a street in Chonchi, and the Chonchi harbor.

Tonight we get on a ferry for about 20 hours south to Puerto Chacabuco, near Coyhaique. Wish us calm seas! - Nancy