San Pedro de Atacama: The Not So Wild West

After 10.5 hours of being compacted between baggage, seat and skin.... and one very expensive stop over in Calama.... we finally arrived in San Pedro. I literally let out a sigh of relief as our slightly rickety bus trundled over the crest of a rather large sand dune to reveal a small stream carving its way through the otherwise desolate landscape. Being the only water source for miles, the sides of this stream were flushed with green as large trees, constructing a visual barrier that separates the town of San Pedro from the desert in which it exists. To add even more contrast, beyond the edge of the oasis towns distant borders, a volcanic range of snow capped mountains mark the horizon.

As we enter the town its self I am reminded of the images of the wild west portrayed by Hollywood. Along the dusty streets stand mudbrick walls that surround mudbrick buildings which are littered with makeshift security barriers such as broken glass or sharp tree branches. A man riding past our bus on a horse assists in this comparison.

Beyond our initial impressions of the town, as we crawl closer to the centre, we begin to see signs of the touristic nature of modern San Pedro. Hawkers line the streets spouting the wonders of  their tours or restaurants to anyone that they don't recognise as local........ which equates to about 3/4s of the people in the main street.

This being said, the town is beautiful.... a perfect little oasis town. Hence the tourist population. The town acts as a bit of a bottle neck between Chile and Bolivia with each person we have met to date on the trip making an appearance here at some point. The atmosphere of the town and its many attractions meant we had to spend a few days here and it was by far the nicest town we had seen.

Niki's bits: Legs! its the first place i have legs in Chile, and arms! exposed flesh and warm sun!!

Chile: The Turkey Vulture

As we headed north along the coast of Chile, the flocks of gulls that clouded the sky Begin to give way to something much bigger and darker. This new Avian species has a sinister flair to its casual circular gliding, its large dark wings casting shadows across urban and natural landscapes alike. Not quite big enough to be an Andean Condor, a species high on my list of must see species, but definitely a vulture of some kind.

Nothing more than a distant ominous shape in the sky for the majority of our trip up the Chilean coast, it wasn't until our trip to Choros Island that we finally got close enough to identify these as Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura), the most widespread of all New World Vultures*. This species is known to occur from Canada all the way south to the southern tip of Chile, being found in a variety of habitats including desert, shrub land and sub-tropical forests. As these birds feed almost exclusively on carrion (dead meat), they can often be seen scavenging within urban areas. It is suggested that it is by their keen sense of smell that they detect the gases produced by meat at the early stages of decay.

* Historically, many believed that all vultures were raptors and members of the order Falconiformes. However, recently it was discovered that the vultures that inhabit the American continents (North and South) actually evolved from a different ancestor than the European, African and Asian vultures. The apparent similarities between New and Old World vultures are not a result of common ancestry, but rather a perfect example of convergent evolution.

 

San Pedro de Atacama: Sand Demons Land (Sandboarding Video)

The mud brick buildings of San Pedro begin to shimmer as the sun finally overcomes the cool dry air and the desert begins to warm up. As we make our way through a maze of salt mud valleys we glare out at the 4pm sun and are glad we dressed down a little. There are no ski lifts in the desert after all and a combination of the afternoon dessert heat and the walk up the 100m+ dunes at altitudes of 3,000m are known to tear at the legs and lungs of the unprepared.
This is the story of Niki and I's introduction to the competetive sport of sand boarding.

 

 

Nikis Bits: haha Corey ate so much sand!! hilarious..



Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve: A Marine Fiends Paradise

After a night of mis-adventure in the Aji Verde Hostel in La Serena giving us little sleep, we were finally wrapped up tight in what we assume will be suitable clothing (first mistake) and were on our way north down the Chilean Route 5 towards Los Choros, a small fishing village from where our boat out to the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve on Choros and Damas Islands awaited. After continuing down the highway for a while we turn west down a small dirt road towards the village. Along the way we were able to observe a couple of herds of Guanacos (as discussed in a previous post) and wild donkeys that were congregating around one of the few aqua springs found scattered throughout the desolate landscape.

Now I personally am not big on tours, I much prefer the freedom of being able to see things on my on terms...... But, as you will see from the following, the trip out to the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve was a massive exception.

Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi)
After about a 20min boat ride out towards the islands, after seeing numerous far off silhouettes of unidentified flying objects that we were told were this species and that species..... and maybe even one of those species, we finally arrived at the first of the two islands that make up the reserve, Choros Island. As soon as we were in close proximity to the island we got our first close up fauna sighting, The Red-legged Cormorant. This individual was siting 20m up a cliff face on a small ledge preening its self. It was well hidden amongst the shadows.
This species is native to the coastlines of South America from Peru to Chile. It nests on these cliff faces where they are nearly undetectable other than their bright red feet and beaks. This species is listed as Near Threatened under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Peruvian Booby (Sula variegata)
Within moments of our Red-legged Cormorant encounter, we heard a flutter of wings and spun around to see a Peruvian Booby sitting non-chalauntly on the opposite rock face of the small cove in which our boat was sitting. The look on his face said "I'm the second most common seabird along the South American coast, of course you were gonna see me..... This is MY house." An interesting side note, this also makes them the second most important guano (poo) producing sea bird. Guano is exported for use as a fertiliser and as a source of nitrate for gun powder. For those who like a pun: As a result of their primary commercial use.... Some may even call them Peruvian Poobies.

Humbolt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldtii)
After the twitchers in the group ewwed and ahhhed over the previous two species and we rounded a small headland we encountered the headline act of the trip, the species to which this reserve is dedicated, the Humbolt Penguin. This species of penguin is named after the cold water that travels north from the Antarctic known as the Humbolt Current. Although listed as Threatened on the ICUN Red List due to issues associated with over fishing and climate change, these penguins were abundant on the island. We spotted them fishing in the water and perched upon the islands highest peaks. Although usually found nesting in small caves, apparently it is common practice for the penguins on this island to burrow into the roots of cacti.

Marine Otter (Lontra felina)
The next species we spotted was by far the highlight of the expedition. An extremely rare and cryptic species, the Marine Otter. Throughout the trip so far the guide had been G-ing us up about this species. Every Shadow in the water or odd shape off in the distance was always a Marine Otter. He kept saying how shy they were and how hard it was to get close to them (the Yette of the ocean).... that was until one popped up in the water less than 10m from the boat. BAM! Such a star he was that he even went back down, grabbed an anchovy and surfaced again, laying on his back while he ate. This member of the weasel family, also known as the marine cat, is listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and we were very blessed to have seen him in action. So psyched.

South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens, formerly Otaria byronia)
Almost camouflaged against the large outcrops of Sienna colored rocks, a collection of inanimate creators laze around in the sun. This group of South American Sea Lions, consisting of 1 male and his small harem of females, barely even acknowledge or existence as they absorb the mid-day sun. These creatures are known for their intelligence and you can really see it in their eyes as the casually turn for a moment, assess the Small boat of tourists invading their territory and then slump back down passively.  Like the other member of this family, the fur seal, the sea lion is distinguished from the true seal by its external ears, a feature that is clearly visible from our position. After we hang within proximity for a moment the big male turns his hind flippers forward in preparation for walking and trundles his way across the rocks towards us, lets out a grunt of warning, then slumps back down, draping himself across one of his females. Although not a rare species, it is our first glimpse of a species we will see all along the South American coast and one we hope to dive with a bit further north.

 Nikis Bits:  he forgot to mention that we also saw huge pods (like 50+) of bottle-nosed and short-beaked dolphins playing with the sea lions, pod of humpback whales, turkey vultures and an elephant seal! One boat, 4 hours, two islands...... super freezing cold.

(Corey: Stay tuned for Dolphin Video)

Communication: cross your fingers and hope for the best

Ok, let me just begin by saying that our Spanish is progressing. Through a combination of under and over pronounced syllables that resemble Spanish words and descriptive body language we have been able to achieve most things. We have heard that Chile is the worst place to try to understand locals if your new to the language because they speak so fast that even  other native Spanish speakers find it hard to catch their meaning. In the deep end is where you learn to swim though right?

Something I have fallen back on is "If you dont understand just cross your fingers and say si (yes)." It kind of eventuates in a situation like that movie Yes Man though where you never really know what your getting your self into. One example of this is ordering food. In La Serena, after an exhausting drive, all i wanted was a solid, healthy and satisfying meal. After searching for somewhere that was open for a while we came across a buffet style cafe, one where you pick stuff from the warmer and they put it on a plate and charge by size/weight. So I really liked the look of a tomato based pasta sauce to I pointed and said "que uno, por favor." She smiled and served me some of what I wanted... I am awesome I thought. Win. But then she spat out a rapid fire of Spanish that I had no idea about.......... "Ahhhh, Si seniora" I said cautiously, then with more confidence "Si, perfecto" (fingers crossed, whats the worst that could happen). The worst that could happen is that I ended up with about 1kg of mash potato on a second plate. hmmmmmm, fail.

The key is body language, Niki is epic at reading the song and dance people go through trying to communicate with foreigners. Me not so much. We stayed a night at an amazing little hostel in Caldera by the name of Aji Rojo. It was a little house that had been slightly modified for travellers and is by far the best accommodation we have had, It really felt like you were visiting someone in their home. It was warm and comfortable and we had it all to ourselves. The issue was that the amazing lady that run the place didnt speak a word of English. So for two days we survived by making opening gate actions with our hands while repeating the word "Horra" to find out opening times while she just laughed at us at our most animated or shrugged in frustration when the message was lost. She tried to reciprocate the pantomime to facilitate our understanding. Would have looked like threee people having a fit at each other (with the odd stunned blank look thrown in) to anybody watching. But thanks to my basic language skills and Nikis interpretation of the theatrics we got by.
I cant wait to become confident and knowledgeable enough to fully interact with the local people here. It will make the trip allot smoother and allot more interesting.

Niki's Bits: Constant surprise meals ("hmm those words look like they say something yummy..."this please") meals do not always work so well for some allergic to dairy... buuuut The Simpsons is perfectly, equally hilarious in spanish as in english.

La Serena: Guanaco spit in the Face

After seeing them in wild we dropped by a local free zoo in the middle of La Serena. This Zoo had a Guanaco enclosure housing one Guanaco. So being an inquisitive fellow I decided to go up close to him as he ate some feed against the fence. He looked up and kinda showed me his teeth for a second then looked away casual. He then turned around, showed me his teeth again for a moment and then once again turned away....... Then Like lightning he swung his head around and BOOM! Spat in my face. Completely forgot about that habit and I paid the price.

Moral of the story. Dont ever mess with a Guanaco.

La Serena: Where the Guanacos Play

 

While driving from La Sarena to the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve the bus slows down and the driver points casually out the window (hes seen them a million times before) and says "Those over there are Guanaco, One of two breeds of wild camelids native to Chile." The Guanaco, along with their close relative the Vicunia, is a signature species for South America (occurring in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Columbia and Argentina) and so are on our list of South American must see animals.

The Guanaco
A species of relatively tall, fluffy and alert looking animals watch us as our car comes to a stop 100m from where they are grazing. It is kind of surreal to see a herd of such large animals happily muching away on the rather unattractive, dead looking vegetation that is scattered amongst the cacti of the arid coastal Chilean land scape. Within the heard that we have stumbled across, colouration varied very little, with the majority displaying a similar Dark Cinnamon colour with offwhite underparts. Although this is typical of the region, throughout their distribution colouration is known to vary from light brown to dark cinnamon.

We noticed that one particular animal in the herd displayed more of a confident and slightly aggressive persona. Where the others watched on casually but cautiously, this animal stood tall and paid us particular attention. It was assumed that this was probably the herd's male. Apparently each heard only has one adult male with the rest being female or juvenile. These female inclusive groups tend to remain small, often containing no more than ten adults. What happens to the other males? Bachelor males will often form nomadic unisex herds containing as many as 50 males with dominant males within these herds challenging for ownership of the female inclusive groups that they encounter.

Wasn't a mind blowing experience but was a good find. One of those "can now say we've seen it" animals. Will continue to keep an eye out as we go for the regions other wild camelid species (Vicugna) as we go. The Vicugna are more of a high altitude species apparently so we will keep an eye out as we cross the Andes.

Consider yourselves Guanacoed.

 

Nikis Bits: Fluffy fluffy guanaco - at least theeiiir warm...envious!, there were wild donkeys too!

Valaparaiso: Birds that Hum

When walking around the street of Vina Del Mar or Valaparaiso, when ever you are in the vicinity of gardens with flowering flora, you will often hear a bird call that resembles a small cartoon lazer gun firing in rapid succession with the odd slow pulse intermittently. While up in the hills of Valaparaiso we finally got a glimps of what was making these sounds, the smallest of Chile's Humming Birds, the Green-backed Firecrown (Sephanoides sephaniodes). This species is named for the crimson patch that is occassionally visable on its forehead. This patch is only visable from certain angles (in certain light) so cannot be relied upon as a sole means of identification. Its relative beak and body size aswell as its emerald back and white patch behind the eye are also key identifiers.

Today it was my turn to get al little school girl like, seeing these birds has got me pumped. Huming Birds are something that I have always wanted to see and to see them in action within a week of arriving has me excited about what is to come. As previously mentioned, due to the angle of this photo the crown was not visable but hopefully I will see them again so I can get one that shows it. Also, I really want to get the traditional mid flight shot.

 

Valaparaiso: A City in Color

I give a slight shiver as another cloud drifts non-chalontly across the sun, shading us from its warmth. From the top of the mountains that lift the outskirts of Valaparaiso into the sky we can see the entire city, from the port that harbours huge cargo and navel boats, accross the markets streets that cut between the massive modern buildings and shopping malls and up through the aging suburban streets.
But it is not the view from the hills, the boats in the harbor, the markets or the brightly colored buildings that cover the hill sides that stand out about this city...... It is the amazing street art that adornes every wall. Where most societies reject this form of expression, it appears that Valaparaiso encorages and takes pride in their street art, no matter how vulgar or what the political message being communicated.

So, this being said, it was worth going against the advice of nemerous locals communicated via worried looks and sign language (hold on to your bag up in the hills, dont take out your camera, its very dangerous up there) as we wandered up higher and higher, through poorer and poorer neighborhoods to take a few picturesof the better art to share with you all.

The street art of Valaparaiso:

 Nikis Bits: Valparaiso city is generally butt ugly and smells of fish, but they do have these cool hillside trams so you dont have to climb the steep hill (win!) to the good bits of town -which are really cool-, and yes we made great "stoopido gringo's" as we accidently fell into favela town.... oops. FYI vegans are screwed for food in Chile.

The Pelican: A Niki Thing

I dont really know why, and im not going to pretend I understand it, all I know is that Niki has some kind of weird affinity (maybe even fetish) for Pelicans. We spotted a few of the local Paruvian Pelicans (Pelecanus thagus) on our first day in Vina Del Mar and Nikis eyes lit up like a 3 year old at a Wiggles concert. These Peruvian Pelicans were easily observed from the shore. In a collective cloud of feathers and beaks, this species mingles with the enormous Gulls of the region circling in nearshore waters and occasionally diving for fish or scraps from local fishermen. Many could also be observed perched on the white capped (feces covered) rocks that line the shoreline.

For those of you who do not know, the species of Pelican common to Australia (Pelecanus conspicillatus) differs from the Peruvian Pelican in colour (Australian are white) and also in size (the australian are slightly smaller).

This species is listed a Near Threatened on the  IUCN Red List.

Pumped for our first wildlife encounters.

Nikis Bits: the Gulls here are monster sized! like chicken size. and this place has the cutest cats everywere!  Always wanted to see brown pelicans so yes i was super excited. Their cool. But not as cool as our big white ones. Now where are some seals......

The Search for Santiago: The patchwork city (Day 2)

Were you ever involved in a patchwork quilt as a child, where each child was given a section (or patch) of the quilt to decorate before it was sewn together at the end? The result is always eclectic, as the ideas of 50 separate people are melded into one with complete disregard for any form of unity. This pretty much sums up Santiago. From the modern architecture and perfectly manicured gardens of the cities corporate centre known affectionately as San-hattan (due to its similarities to Manhattan) to the bar lined and graffiti covered streets of Bella Vista and the 100+ year old churches scattered throughout. Although, with such diversity, you would think the city would provide numerous opportunities for tourists........ but the city has become to modern and expensive. Everything that could be considered cultural has been significantly impacted by the North American-isation that comes with having money.

The Search for Santiago
Just at the end of the alley way (Simpson Street) in which our hostel (Footsteps) is located is a small music school. The artistic energy emanates from here throughout the day with an array of alternative looking students often seen in the neighbouring park drumming, playing guitar or harmonising the lyrics of their favourite songs together in an open circle. Further down Ramon Camicer Av., at the southern end of this park, a giant skate park exists where dread headed youths kill time by ollying, grinding and coaxing nubies into quite impressive stacks. Was fun to watch and listen, but there was nothing exceedingly unique about these sites.


A short  ride on the Metro Underground to Alcantara and it feels as if you have been transported to New York. Massive modern buildings erupt from perfectly maintained street and their bordering  gardens. After meeting with the some members of the Chilean AMEC office, we slipped down the bustling street dodging stressed looking businessmen and woman dressed in business attire to find lunch.... two $8 sandwiches. Budget? What Budget?

Bella Vista, with its older buildings and traditional architecture, is by far the most interesting area we managed to find during our exploration today. As we wander through the cobble stone streets a middle age lady approaches us, informs us of a poetic society and shares a poem she has written in both Spanish and English (it sounded amazing in Spanish). The most notable thing about Bella Vista is the beautiful old architecture of the buildings lining the streets and the graffiti that adorns it. The buildings may be old and many are in disrepair but we finally feel as if we have connected with the city and its people in someway, as if we have finally found the soul of Santiago.

Niki's bits.... The combination of jet lag, and an expensive & boring city = grumpy niki.. Annd it seems i'll need to know more Spanish than just "where is the toilet".... 

Hop, Skip, Jump........ Sleep

Deep breath in........... Long, slow breath out............ The dry air circulating through the aircraft burns my throat and stings my eyes as I groggily awaken from my semi conscious slump. Sliding up the window shutter I notice that the blanket of clouds below me has begun to change from its usual dark, almost invisible aesthetic to having a slight pink tinge. It is the start of  new day, the first of our adventure. I blink a few times, wipe the sleep from my eyes and turn and look at Niki. After a 10 hour struggle she seems to have found a position of suitable comfort, one in which her, her blanket and her two pillows have somehow melded into a single organism. She chuckles softly at the TV screen she is watching, no doubt careful not to disrupt her new found harmony. I return to the window just as the majestic, snow capped peaks of the Andes begin to emerge from the clouds and announce the landscapes variation from the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean to the undulating contours of the worlds 4th largest continent.

Arrival in the city of Santiago was relatively uneventfully. The immigration lines were non existent, the smallest I have ever experienced while on international travel. We had our bags and were sitting comfortably on a shuttle speeding down the highway, past the slums on the outskirt of the city in about 30 mins flat. The Shuttle driver was extremely friendly and took it upon himself to educate us on "His" city. His area of expertise? Local hills. He knew many of the most intimate details about the three main hills in town, their relative size to each other and their potential uses. "That hill is the biggest hill in the city. People are riding and also sometimes running. It is a little bit bigger than that hill over there. That hill has houses though....". So, so far we are pretty up to date with our "Hills of Santiago" knowledge. Stay tuned, because tomorrow we may learn about the local ditches.

Sorry about the sarcasm, very sleep deprived at this point.

To sum up the rest of our first day in South America before I fall asleep.... We have walked around the block 4 times, we have eaten some of the local cuisine and we are about to pass out from exhaustion. Tomorrow, with a little more sleep under our belts we will begin to explore.

El sol se levantará mañana y quién sabe lo que traerá la marea?
(The sun will rise tomorrow and who knows what the tide will bring)