Our guide, Enrique, and our new driver, Alvaro, picked us up at 8AM and we headed north on Highway 9. Although he had known us for less than 24 hours, Enrique somehow knew that I desperately wanted to see a Steamer-Duck. As we left Punta Arenas, while driving along the Strait of Magellan (how often to you get to write that bit of info to someone?!), Enrique asked Alvaro to pull over because he had often seen Steamer-Ducks at this location. Imagine my profound delight when there, standing on a rock near shore, was this beautiful and interesting bird:
This is a Flightless Steamer-Duck, a bird that is unable to fly, as its name would suggest. It has huge thick legs and enormous feet, and, conversely, has short, stubby and useless wings. For obvious reasons, this duck is never seen inland, only along the coastal edges. In case you're wondering, we did see the Flying Steamer-Duck, but you must have patience. That photo and story will come in a later post!
We continued north into Rio Verde, where the truly fun drive began. We left Highway 9 and headed north toward Puerto Natales on a deeply rutted gravel road. Patagonia is known for its rather consistent winds coming from the west, so the dust kicked up by any and all vehicles was soon dissipated into the air. We drove by huge lagoons and desert-looking hills, seeing many birds, such as the Upland Goose, Southern Crested Caracara, and, yes, we saw a huge roost/nesting site of the Andean Condor. I digiscoped this photo there:
There are three condors in the photo – yes, you should get out your magnifying glass! Don't worry, though, Ivan has a photo taken yesterday when we saw 11 Condors and 13 Caracaras circling a dead guanaco. That story will be posted later.
We stopped at the Milodon Caves where, years ago, someone found some skin and some bones, allegedly from an extinct Giant Sloth. The main cave was a huge cavern, totally open, so we went in and walked the circuit. No birds, no bats, just one dumb tourist photo:
So, off we went again, still heading north on our favorite Rutted Road. Finally we arrived at our hotel, Hosteria Rio Serrano, a modern and comfortable hotel with stunning views of Torres Del Paine. This was the view we had from our room:
We checked in, then went for a walk across the grassy area in the photo and into the "forest" where we saw bunches of birds, mostly tiny charmers with names like the White-crested Elaenia, the Thorn-tailed Rayadito, and the Black-chinned Siskin. I'll post Ivan's photos of these little birds at the end of the blog, when we're home. Needless to say, I have become smitten with each of them!
So, here we were, on the real and true first day of this wonderful trip. Keep checking back. We're sitting in an internet café in Punta Arenas (pronounced as if it were one word - Puntarenas) and I'm frantically trying to get caught up. This post, which I lost earlier, is now ready to be published. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to write at least one more post because the next day, Dec. 6, involved a thrilling boat ride in strong winds and large swells on Lago Grey to the faces of Grey Glacier, a glacier shared with Argentina where it is called Perito Moreno. And before the boat ride, we had unbelievable luck in finding a nesting pair of Magellanic Woodpeckers, largest living woodpecker in the Americas. Enrique, our fabulous guide, was so excited at this find - it made our delight all the more enjoyable!
No comments:
Post a Comment