Winter Carnival in Punta Arenas, Chile Posted 8/2013 amd restored 8/2014

 

I happened to be in Punta Arenas at this time but had no idea of such a carnival taken place.  Imagine a carnival in the middle of the winter and with freezing temperatures.  It was an amazing accomplishment by the community with various private businesses, schools and cultural organizations participating.  The carnival went on July 20-21, 2013 and it is held annually.

 

There were between 35-40,000 people attending the Carnival according to the local officials.  I arrived at a park that was the starting point of the carnival.  Participants waited for the start adjusting the outfits, practicing the dances and tuning the musical instruments for the great occasion.  

 

The grand ladies paraded at the front of their social groups with gorgeous big dresses carrying flags and moving to the rhythms of their accompanying music bands.

 

And the scanty dressed ones…how did they manage?  They were batucada dancers with fancy outfits and moving real fast and energetically.  Surprisingly you could see the drops of sweat running down their faces; the fast action protected them for the cold. They received the most exclamations of excitement and received the most applauses and calls.  I wonder why?  And yes, I photographed them all.

 

Participants paraded in an assortment of interesting costumes with original designs as well as some imitating famous characters from the movies.  Something for everyone to like.

 

The Gauchos and their horses were also representing their various clubs and of them came from others nearby towns as Porvenir and Natales.  Men, women and children paraded but what amazed me where the young children that were still awake; this parade lasted more than 4 hours.  One note about Punta Arenas is that it has a large street dog population and they were to be left out of the parade.

 

One of the groups that were over-represented was the auto clubs to the extreme that they took a large amount time, even the dogs complained at their numbers.  These were mostly souped-up sports cars with fancy paint jobs, loud speakers and fancy fluorescent lights.  However, there were not many motorcyclists.

 

And then there was a variety of participants in costumes or just plain citizens observing those marching in the parade, as well as other competing photographers searching for the best angle or warming their cameras. 

 

A peculiar thing I notice was that Saturday the Queen of the Carnival in the float was different from the one in the Sunday.  I must say that the most original outfit was the one of the penguins marching; this was the most appropriate since there are large colonies of penguins in the vicinity of Punta Arenas. And the guy with the jumping shoes was the most hilarious; he fell on various occasions but was a sport, stood up and kept going…wonder if he made it to the end.

Every great time must come to an end and say good bye with a grand finale to Saturday night with a great display of fireworks in the Avenida Costanera.  The parade ended Sunday night; it was a repeat of the previous night and the time for the awards.  Sadly, I did not win any, but I had a great time despite my frozen toes.

Chile: Torres del Paine II

While driving in Torres del Paine Park one late morning, I observed a guanaca and her young standing next to a fence and decided to stop to photograph them. I suspected they were about to jump the fence. I thought that they would move back and to run to get speed before jumping. Much to my surprise the adult one just squatted a bit, sprinted into the air and over the fence she went. Then she started calling her young who was hesitant but eventually cleared the fence too. Once reunited with the mother, it was rewarded with a snack. I have seen Thompson’s gazelles springing into the air but I could have never imagined a bigger and heavier guanaco doing the same.

Most of my adventures are in search of new bird photo opportunities. While in Torres del Paine I added a new bird to my image collection, the buff-necked ibis, known in Spanish as the bandurria baya or scientifically as Theristicus caudatus. This bird appears larger than the ibises commonly seen in the United States and move in flocks of 5-6 birds in the fields looking for insects. They have a peculiar call and are not easily approachable.

There were some Southern Lapwings (called teros in Spanish or by their scientific name of Vanellus chilensis) in the same pasture as the ibises mentioned above; but these are very noisy and aggressive towards each others. They look for food in horses’ droppings by breaking the piles searching for insects. When one takes possession of a pile of manure, it becomes very aggressive and chases away others at times resulting at times in fights as seen below.

After leaving the park I stopped at Puerto Natale for fueling at a gas station across from the bay. What did I see swimming nearby? One of the birds I had been chasing for a long time, the black necked swans. These I had seen in a previous trip but was not able to photograph. This time I got the opportunity but weather conditions were not the best. These birds seem to be at home in fresh as well as salt water.

And yes, there are gauchos in Chile too.