We have some catching up to do! Going back to the end of February and to pre-COVID-19 quarantine times…
After a month exploring vast Patagonia, our next stop was the island of Chiloé via a short ferry from mainland Chile where we had signed up to volunteer on a rural farm. As we drove to the sleepy seaside town of Quemchi, we were surprised to see that the landscape looked very much like the British countryside – gentle, rolling hills and greenery everywhere – a huge change from the dramatic landscapes we had become used to in South America!
Living on a rural farm was such a new experience for the two of us. Our hosts kept many animals – chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, goats, pigs, bees etc etc – and maintained a huge amount of home-grown fruit and vegetables. We were very inspired by their efforts of self-sustainability; they harvested enough food for themselves and the volunteers during the working months, a reserve for the winter months and then would sell anything remaining in the local market. During our stay we harvested massive amounts of famous Chiloean garlic and potatoes to sell. Our other tasks involved ploughing fields and planting oats, general maintenance around the farm and one of the more challenging tasks for Josh who had to (attempt to!) catch and carry three goats and several huge, terrifying geese to be taken away from the farm.
Our hosts, Katya and Luís, were quite traditional and so our roles were very different – a LOT of heavy lifting for Josh while Lisa was in charge of feeding the animals and watering plants. The work was very tiring but we made up for this by spending the afternoons watching films by the log fire (the weather was also very English – lots of rain!). As Katya trained as a chef, the food was delicious. It was also very fresh – for our final meal, we watched a tiny local lady effortlessly murder one of the chickens to be used in our lunch of ‘cazuela’ (which certainly opened our eyes and made us question our future food choices (although vegetarianism is virtually impossible in these parts!)). Our accommodation at the farm was a beautiful (but very basic) treehouse in the middle of the forest.
Our weekend at the farm involved Luís’ 40th birthday celebration for which we built tables and benches for the 30 guests (which amazingly held up for the whole night). We were rewarded with a big Chilean party featuring lots of alcohol, music and a typical ‘asado’ barbeque with some very fresh meat (the cow came from the farm next door and was killed the night before the party!).
During our stay in Chiloe, we visited the city of Ancud and the capital of the island, Castro, where we enjoyed a walk around the town to see its colourful houses on stilts on the water and tried the local staple Curanto which consists of seafood, meat and potatoes traditionally cooked in a hole underground.
Our 2nd workaway was a fantastic experience – we learnt so many new skills and we were very happy to have been able to visit Chiloé island with its very distinct culture, traditions and scenery.
Next stop: Pucón.
Josh & Lisa in South America 