After a delicious breakfast in the hostel, we headed towards Pufolil in Chonchi. There we met with a group of women running artisan shop. They used dead tree limbs from the nearby forest to make beautiful new wooden pieces, everything from cutting boards accompanied by ceramic plates to benches to wall hangings. The women prepared us (another) delicious breakfast where everything was homemade, even the butter.

Our yummy breakfast – all homemade

Some of the pieces made by the artisans

Then we headed off for a nature walk in the forest. We learned about the different types of plants, some which can be used for hand moisturizer and others which can help with diabetes.

The trees grow tall very quickly in this forest in order to reach the sunlight to survive

The view at the end of our walk

Plant that we rubbed on our hands as moisturizer

We headed back to the workshop to make keychains out of little pieces of wood. Seeing a room full of power tools run by a group of women really warmed my feminist heart.

In the zone

Halfway through our keychain making adventures, our lunch was ready. Let’s just say we certainly didn’t go hungry.  We finished up our keychains and off to a sheep farm we went! The farm was in nearby Romazal, also in Chonchi. The farm sold sweaters, slippers, hats and more made from sheep wool. It was hard not to buy all of it because it all looked so cozy. We headed out for a walk down the road where I discovered I speak sheep. Yeah. That’s right. I’m trilingual and I didn’t even know it. Then the farmer shows us how his dogs heard the sheep, and he let us hold the little sheepies. I got pooped on and my pants ripped while putting it down (I told you I got fed well), but I can honestly say that this was an absolutely incredible experience. And the day wasn’t even over yet!

Pre-poop. Don’t worry. I was just as excited post-poop. Photo credits to the amazing photographer, Marley Crank.

After bidding farewell to the farmer, we headed to Cucao to explore the beach, check in to Hostal Palafito Cucao, and have an asado (barbeque). We did some yoga and an ab circuit before the asado to try to free up some space in our stomachs after all we had eaten today. It didn’t really work, but we still managed to stuff our faces some more. Now preparing for trekking tomorrow, and by “preparing” I mean sleeping.

View from the hostal

Location: Chonchi, Chiloé, Chile