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Ancud is a small town at the northern end of the island of Chiloé, the largest island of the Chilean archipelago with a fishing history. Our bus took a few hours including making the crossing by ferry which was at least sea worthy. While on the ferry for 10 or 15 minutes we were able to get off the bus and look out over the channel and the approaching island.
Our hostel was close to the waterfront, and we walked along there into the town centre, consisting of a plaza and a few old buildings. It was a sunny afternoon so we spent it exploring a little, which in such a small town took all of about an hour!
We visited the Museo Regional de Ancud which had a little display inside with local artefacts and photos. Outside was a replica of the Ancud, the ship that sailed through the Strait of Magellan to claim the land for Chile in the south. It also had a skeleton of a blue whale, but of course this had been dismantled for maintenance at the time we were there!
From there we made our way to the jetty where a rubbery red seaweed had been spread over the concrete to dry. The smell was fairly pungent so we stayed only long enough to take a couple of photos of the colourful wooden fishing boats tied up in a tangle before moving on to the fortress.
Fuerte San Antonio was built to defend the southern tip of Chile from the English. It now just has some nice grass, a few walls and some cannons, but it was a nice spot to visit with a nice view out over the water.
Finally we walked a little further north to have a look at the playa (beach) of Ancud, a rather poor excuse for a beach but it was in use, then returned to the hostel to make some dinner.
The next day we thought about going on a tour to visit the Penguin Colony of Humboldt and Magellan penguins, however a few others in the hostel that had been said they didn't find it worthwhile so we decided to save our pennies. Instead we had a coffee in town and went for a walk through the burbs of Ancud, along the shore to a smelly beach.
That night we enjoyed a bottle of wine over dinner while chatting to a lovely Swedish couple. When both we and they ran out of wine we all went on an expedition to buy more. The $5 wine at the corner store we decided was too expensive so we walked the extra distance to the supermarket for the $2 bottle instead. Wine in Chile is about the only thing on this whole trip that hasn't exceeded our expectations on cost! And it's pretty good too!
LAPFWT
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