According to folklore, Chile’s indigenous Mapuche people believed the spirits of the deceased were taken to Mocha Island. The tiny teardrop-shaped isle lies about 35km off central Chile’s Pacific coast and its dark-green slopes are easily visible from the mainland. But Mocha is far from easy to reach.
There are no passenger ferries or public boat services. The only way to get to the mountainous 48-sq-km island is via a six-seat, single-propeller plane from the mainland fishing village of Tirua. Stepping out onto the windswept airstrip, Mocha could hardly feel more remote.
But Mocha’s relative isolation and tranquillity belies centuries of commerce, conflict and upheaval. Pirates have come and gone, boats have run aground, and the island has been shaped by the sea and its many shipwrecks.
