Chiloé

Fly to Puerto Montt from Santiago, then a bus that rides the ferry across the channel.

A palafito — a stilt house over the tide in Castro, painted like a fishing fleet.

An island of wooden UNESCO churches, ghost ships and witch caves in the folklore, curanto feasts cooked in earth pits, and a melancholy fog that grows on you.

Eat curanto al hoyo at a rural fogón — shellfish, pork, and potatoes steamed under leaves in the ground — then visit three churches slowly.

December to March

Al tiro — right away; Chilean for imminently, eventually.

The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin — he walked these islands and complained about the rain.

Parque Tantauco in the roadless south, and the penguin colonies of Puñihuil.