Chiloé, Puñihuil

In the summer of 2019 my mother, my sister and my nephew traveled as a family to the south, more specifically, Puerto Montt, to my grandmother's house. As Chiloé is relatively close, we decided to go early that day to visit the Puñihuil penguin colonies.

What I like most about visiting Chiloé is traveling by ferry to the island, with the icy wind in your face and seagulls flying in the distance. In summer the ships are full of Chilean and foreign tourists alike, and the ship's cafes are warm and friendly. When we go down, we have lunch in a small restaurant and head towards Puñihuil, a national reserve to protect the Humboldt and Magellan penguins. The journey is long, as Chiloé is a large island, but along the way the sea and the lakes are beautiful to see.

Puñihuil is a famous destination for tourists, so it was full of people and the signs in English and Spanish. The coast is full of boats for many people, and a few steps from the sea there were different cabins that offered their tours through the islets. With my family we got on a boat and enjoyed the rolling of the waves, which even splashed our faces.

The most beautiful thing to look at was obviously the penguins from afar. They were fun when they glided, sat or turned to look at the crowded boats. The boats are careful not to get close to the point of disturbing the animals, and they circle around for all to see. There were also several species of birds that are only Chilean, and they were all beautiful and unique to see.

That day we took a lot of photos, we had fun with the waves shaking the boats and we went back in the afternoon by ferry with a coffee and lots of penguin keychains.