Finally – a day not at sea!  We stopped in the town of Castro and, due to the lack of having a dock big enough for an expedition ship, we were tendered to the shore.

This excursion was a guided walking tour of the city.  Getting up into the town from the docks was up a very steep street.  On the sidewalk up, lining the street was several hand-carved characters.

Once to the top of the hill, we visited Plaza de Armas de Castro, similar to the plaza we saw in Santiago, in the center of town.

After walking the square we visited Iglesia de San Francisco, a bright yellow church on the exterior with an interior made mostly of wood. 

After a quick look-see in the cathedral, we walked to the upper edge of Castro to view the palafitos (stilt houses) that Castro is known for.  Upper edge = uphill, walking up stairs, a little more uphill, a lot more stairs. After enjoying some time from this vantage point we walked down a very steep street to get generally level with the houses for a closer. 

In addition to stilt houses, Castrol is known for handmade boats and boat repairs, which we saw a boat builder’s home while up top.

Our journey back was on a less steep hill, which was great, but it made for a looooong, uphill walk!  Our tour ended at a local craft market where most of the goods are handmade and sold by locals.  The craft market was near to the dock (the dock where tenders can land) so we headed back to the ship after browsing the craft market.

This is a shore side view of our ship as we walking back to the dock.

That’s it for today, see you tomorrow.