The day after my adventures at the first inaugural Ancud Beerfest, I mentioned to Mirta during breakfast that I would more than likely be making a trip to see the penguins of Chiloe, something that seemed almost obligatory for anyone visiting Ancud between September and March. Once again, I was in luck!! The rural beach area in which the penguins are found would be very accessible and festive on this particular Sunday, since the Punihuil Costumbrista would be taking place throughout the evening. This meant that catching a ride there would be much easier and would cost much less than ususal, since there would be large vans taking people back and forth from the beach all day, and the penguin boats would be making visits to the little black and white dudes all day.
When I arrived at Punihuil, I was happy to see that it was not too crowded as of yet, and that the scenery was once again breathtaking. Immediately after jumping out of the van, I paid about $8, received a life jacket and was on my way to check out the penguins. I learned a bit about the penguins on the 30 min trip, discovering that these little guys were only about 30 or 40 centimeters tall, are monogamous (our guide likened them to the natives of Chiloe, the Chilotes), and would be taking off from the island pretty soon. I was happy just to be out on the ocean, and tried my best to get a decent photo of the penguins using my camera phone. You can see how successful (read: not at all successful) that was below!!
Back on the beach, the vendors were popping up and people had begun to line up for empenadas and seafood dishes, with Chilean music on full blast and plenty of wine and beer was enjoyed on a sunny day here in Punihuil. The idea behind the costumbrista was still unclear to me, though I did see a bunch of microphones lined up in front of the food vendors, presumably for a bit of a festival that was about to take place. At the moment, all the hulabaloo pertained to the food vendors, or I should say, the one food vendor, for which there were two lines - one line with no fewer than 40 people for the cash register, where you could get a ticket for your food, and then another line to get the food, which was slower and equally as long. After standing in the wrong line for about 20 minutes, I gave up trying to get a real meal out of it, and decided it would be better to enjoy the day on the long, wide beach with a few cans of beer, some popcorn and some ice cream. I still stand by this decision!!! The empenadas looked delicious and were being made right before your eyes, but I am my father's son and I was not about to waste a day on the beach standing in a line!!
I had spent a good three or four hours there before I began to worry about catching a minibus back to Ancud before it was too late. I was sorry to miss the festival and see what it actually entailed, but Mirta had instilled a bit of fear in me when she told me to make sure not to miss the last ride back into town! When I got back, I went to a local restaurant, la Chilote Mena, and enjoyed a steak and some papas fritas to cap off another very lucky and successful day on the island of Chiloe!
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