We woke up to bright sunshine and a significant change in the weather, and so decided to head for Castro and the Isla Quinchao on the east side of the island.

Castro is the largest town on Chileo and was bustling with Monday morning traffic. Castro is an old town, originally founded in 1567 and the third oldest settlement in Chile. But it has been attacked, burnt and struck by earthquakes so often that there is little of the original town left. One feature that does remain though is the Palafitos, fisherman’s houses built on sticks over the estuary.