Monday, 02.13.2012 - 7:17 pm.
I woke up on saturday morning, and the trip to the island of Chiloe seemed like nothing but a dream. But the trip, in a nutshell? Best week of my life so far!
Starting with the 2 am bus on monday, Andrew and I woke up later that day to find the bus climbing up a ferry to cross the ship canal. Andrew and I got off the bus to enjoy the view from the ferry, it was my first time on a boat, if I'm not mistaken. I nearly screamed of joy when I saw dolphins, or rather dolphins' fins, far away.
I can't quite describe and do justice to all the sightnings, smells, flavors, mythological stories and traditional music I was surrounded with this whole week. On monday afternoon we took a trip TO SEE PENGUINS!!! Penguins, two kinds of penguins, nesting on small islands. And an otter eating a crab, floating placidly on its back and being swayed by the waves.
Tuesday was for walking around the small city of Ancud. The B&B we were staying in was also wonderful, near a fishing port. Beautiful place, very homely with a view, delicious food, a piano and a friendly dog. A few blocks away, on top of the hill and on a cliff, there was a spanish colonial fortification, from 1770.
At noon, on wednesday, we rode a bus from Ancud to the capital city of Chiloe, Castro. The B&B we picked was a stilt house, typical architecture of the island, also a very homely, welcoming place. And there was a beautiful tea house a few houses away...all houses in that street were above the water. This city was slightly more urban than Ancud. We took that day to walk around, checking out the seaport and street markets. We signed up for a day trip the next day, to visit an island and have the traditional curanto for lunch.
We joined a party of 16 people in the same expedition. I'd never done that, going on a trip with strangers and a schedule. But it was wonderful! It was a road trip to a small town where we'd walk around, and from then a two-hour boat ride alongside the shore. We saw many islands, a few dolphins, a penguin hunting and the amazing Andes all along the horizon.
We met a very nice woman from Holland, she was traveling on her own and we had a long conversation on the boat. When we got to the island, we saw the way our massive lunch was prepared and then we had time to explore the island. Then sail through more islands, sail to another small town and walk around, and then another brief road trip home. We became friends with the woman from Holland and we went for tea and coffee afterwards, and we exchanged numbers and e-mails. She lives in Santiago, hopefully she'll come visit.
Our last adventure of the trip was on friday morning, when Andrew got locked up in the bathroom of our bedroom at the B&B. Took about 30 minutes and removing the door hinges to get him out. We still had time to have a nice breakfast and stop to buy our lunch for the bus ride home. It was a 10-hour-long ride but we took it stoically.
The invasive thoughts about Joseph were very strong at times throughout the week. I tried to control my thoughts, although at times they'd get out of my hands and cause me to break my heart and get teary-eyed. It's something to kick me for, I know. But I didn't let it ruin my trip and I'd get distracted by the awesomeness of my life and the man in it. So, no more about him for now.
We came back home on friday night, and the next day Andrew's best friend from Santiago came to stay in our apartment for a few days, since he's on vacation (as nearly everyone is this month). And also, last night we hosted a party for another of Andrew's closest friend, Karin, who's also our vet. It was her birthday and a lot of old friends came together to celebrate. And the night before the night before, we had another get together with the same people (minus the birthday girl, who was on holiday), just for kicks, I guess. I was a little lost since they had a history together but I still had fun, they're very relaxed and funny people.
Andrew and I got a TV today, which has left my wallet very sore, even if we split the price in half. It's a big purchase but we were going to do it sooner or later. He knows about technology so he knew what features to look for. I was less concerned about the price when I saw the TV in action. My finances are shaky due to the trip and now this, but everything was worth it.