This is part of a series called Chile from the Sea
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Today we stopped at Puerto Eden, one of the most isolated inhabited places in Chile. It is on Wellington Island which is largely a national park. This tiny town of 200 people can only be reached by boat — there are no roads, airports, etc. Everything that they need and everything that they sell has to travel back and forth to market that way. Add to that fact that this town has one of the highest levels of precipitation in the world (nearly 15 inches per month), leaving the ground permanently soggy — at least until it freezes which it does for about 6 weeks per year. All buildings face the water and access around town is a a raised walkway that was in the process of being rebuilt while we were there. The town is actually pretty new, being formally incorporated in 1975. Before that time, there were only a handful of the traditional indigenous people here, called the Kaweshkar. Like the Yagan tribe around Puerto Williams, these people were nomadic fishermen that used nearly 30 foot long canoes to fish and gather shellfish. While their numbers in the region had reached new 5000 people, European settlement drove them out. Unbelievably, the Europeans took 11 of these people to be exhibited in Paris and Berlin. They were seen (and treated) like interesting animals. Only 4 survived and made it back to Chile. Anyway, today there are 20 indigenous left in the local town population. Kids can only go to school locally up through age 13 (currently there are only 5 kids across all grades) and they have to go to Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas for higher education. Most never return. Our entire walk through the town took about 45 minutes. What was most striking was the beautiful flowers and plants that grow there. Truly beautiful. After leaving Puerto Eden , we made our way through the English Narrows — this time only 200 yards across. It separates Wellington Island from mainland Chile. While not as visually impressive as White Narrows was, it is trickier in that you have to make two quick course changes of nearly 90 degrees to traverse it. Once again, we had a pilot aboard and made it through without incident.
Beautiful downtown Puerto Eden.
And we did feel welcome!
Early morning traffic jam. When the only way to get around is on raised walkways, things can get a little crowded.
One of the few big fishing boats. Mostly we saw pangas.
Here you see a mix of relatively modern public buildings…
… with the more “fixer upper” nature of the private homes. But when water is the only means of getting materials to work with, you make do with what you have.
Glad to see the walkway reconstruction project. Some of the older ones were pretty rickety.
Always time for a little retail therapy before heading back to the ship.
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
