Chiloé Island, Birdwatching and Mapuche Indians
Explore with us Chile’s biggest Island called Chiloé: a beautiful unspoiled corner of the world for birdwatching and rich with local & native Mapuche traditions.
From Santiago, you will take an internal flight to Puerto Montt and hop on the ferry to Chiloé, where our local guide will pick you up. He will welcome you in his home with a wonderful home cooked meal (he is a Chef by profession!) and lead you through the highlights of Chiloé during the next coming days. The island makes a perfect spot for birdwatching, hiking, nature & culture.
Our guide will take you to see Castro and their traditional houses on poles named palafitos, the penguin colony, and a tour through the island. We can also arrange to go for a day hiking in a national park, which can be reached by fishing boat! At night you will lodge in one of his cabañas or his personal home. One of the evenings you will visit a native Mapuche community, to see how they live, sit around the campfire, listen to their ancient stories and taste their traditional meals.
You’ll return with the ferry from Ancud to Puerto Montt to continue your tour in Chile, where you have the option to rent a car and explore the beginning part of the Carretera Austral. Or you can decide to return to Santiago from Puerto Montt airport.
Please find below a sample itinerary and changes can be made upon request.
Price is indicative – please send us an email with your wishes for an itinerary.
Itinerary
Day 1:
-Arrival Puerto Montt, transfer to Chiloé
-Visit of Chacao (oldest village of Chiloé’s Archipelago)
-Visit to the Bay of Caulin, bird sanctuary and home to hundred Black necked swans, Chilean Flamingo, Cormorants and Snowy Egrets and many others
– Lunch or dinner at a traditional Mapuche Ruca
Day 2:
-Exploration of the most most beautiful and secluded spots of the West Coast off the beaten track. You will have plenty of time to walk and observe the flora and fauna of different tranquil beaches. Every beach has its own beauty and charm.
-Boat trip and visit the Humboldt & Magellan Penguin Colony
-Possibility to see flightless steamer ducks, kelp geese, red-legged cormorants, oystercatchers, sea otters and sometimes dolphins & sea lions!
Day 3:
– Tour of World Heritage Churches around Ancud, Castro, Nercón and Chonchi
– Explore the local fish, fruit and vegetable market in Castro
– Visit of the wooden boat wharf Gamboa,
– Admire the stilt houses or ‘palafitos’
– Tour of the never finished copper museum of Castro in Guggenheim style
Day 4:
-Transfer to Bus station of Ancud
– Ferry back to mainland – Puerto Montt
Group Discount
Special group discounts:
- 3-4 people: 10% off
