Torres del Paine posted 2/2013 and retored 8/2014

 

Last year the trip to Torres del Paine was a total lost because of the fire, the park was closed. For more details of this disaster, refer to my previous blog of this place in 2012.  The park is now open for business and the welcome spirit is back.  As a result of the fire, the park staffing has been increased to about 44 rangers. A helicopter is stationed at the park headquarters for fire surveillance; I wonder if it will be there next year since it is very costly to operate.  This is the premier tourist location in Chile; it is what Yellowstone is to the USA.  Therefore is heavily used and large tourist buses are now a common sight, this was not the case back in 2004 when I first visited.  The overcrowding is becoming a concern as seen for the lack of adequate parking places at the designated overlooks.

 In my opinion, this is the spot is where the most wonderful landscapes can be observed in the world, and due to the ever changing weather, the photographic opportunities are challenging.  The most common animals to be seen are the guanacos.  For many years I had been trying to catch these cousins of the camels jumping fences.  Finally I got my shot.  It happened that when I was there, the boys were defending their harems and fights were common and violent.  The defender chases the intruder while biting its rear legs or when facing each other, they fight hitting and biting their necks.

 

There are numerous species of birds and at this time of the year when is spring there, they are active feeding and having families.  Below is a family of Coscoroba swans, a Bandurria with its very peculiar curved bill, a Black Breasted Buzzard ( a new bird for me), the very common Upland Goose,  and finally the Rhea.

 

My purpose this year was to photograph pumas but I was not successful.  Tried hard for several days waking up at dark 0200 to no avail.  Although 5 were sighted, there were very skittish and there was no enough light, but they are there, as proven by the not the best image below; promise a better one in the future.  After a long day, a glass of wine and a great meal provided the energy for the next day.

Puerto Deseado

Named because of the beauty around it, and the fisheries wealth arriving at the Port via the Deseado River estuary; it is the second largest fishing port in Argentina. The town itself looks as it has seen better times in the past as reflected by the now abandoned Railroad Station. Wool exports from the various haciendas in Patagonia were the major source of jobs back in the early XX century.

The area has a long history of visits by explorers and english pirates. Chrales Darwin arrived in December 23, 1833 and navigated up the river where he set up camp. He described the topography, geology, flora and fauna; in particular. He extensively elaborated about the behavior of the guanaco which was very abundant in those days. About 20 miles up the river, there is a promontory known as "Miradores de Darwin" that offers stunning views as seen above. Neaby by there are caves with ancient indian paintings of hands all over the walls.

The island of the Pinguinos, currently a protected national park with an abandoned lighthouse, is the home of Magellan penguins (above), rockhopper penguins, skuas, cormorants, sea lions, and elephant seals and many more.

The island is home to the only colony of rockhopper penguins in coastal Patagonia. They are smaller than the other species of penguins I have seen. The adults have yellow feathers resembly eyebrows that make them very attractive.

When I visited in early February, most of the chicks were fully grown and showing almost full adult plumage. They were still been fed by the adults and are not afraid of humans and easily approached.

For the first time I had a close encounter with skuas. They are very aggresive and will dive bomb those approaching their nest of chicks. I was subjected to their repeated attacks and my hat what hit on occasions. Nevertheless, I managed to get a photo of one of the chicks; imagine such a bellicose attitute to keep me away from such an ugly thing.

In the way back to Puerto Deseado, I was rewarded by a visit from a family of dolphins that for some unknown reason, are attracted to boats and performs aerobatict shows...and it is free!!!

I also visited the national park that follows the Deseado River upstream. Soon after driving into the park late in the afternoon, I encountered a small farm house selling "range eggs." Following the road to the right I ended in a canyon; it is very narrow with high rocky walls full of small cavities and caves. It was obvious that this formation was under water eons ago. I soon was rewarded by an owl family who granted me the opportunity to observe their hunting behavior.

Farther up the park, there is a gray cormorants colony nesting in the cliffs that offered me an opportunity to photograph their nesting behavior under challenging photo conditions due to their flying speed and poor lighting. They are the most beautiful cormorants I have seen so far.

After spending a 3 afternoons in the park, it was time to depart in my way north to Bustamante, an unknown paradise that I found the previous year.

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.

Passage to Argentina and Chile

After almost a month of roaming the two largest Spanish speaking countries in South America,
I find myself recovering at home. Fortunately, I departed Santiago, Chile just the Thursday night before the earthquake. Some of those buildings I photographed in the city and now damaged as I had seen in the news. Wondered what happened to those fellow travelers who were headed for Easter Islands the next morning.

I started the trip by flying into Buenos Aires where I spent a few days and was amazed as to the construction activity going on compared to what I saw there year before in May. From there I flew to Trelew in the province of Chubut for my major destination at the Peninsula de Valdez, site of one of the largest national parks in Argentina. It was a desolate area mostly like a steppe of low rolling hills covered by low brushes and short grasses as seen above with steep cliffs making the beaches difficult to access. Most of the coastal area of this province has the same topography. My major purpose to go Valdez was to photograph orcas attacking sea lions on the beaches. Unfortunately I arrived a few weeks ahead of time and to access the areas where these activities take place, a permit must be obtained; an excuse to return next year.

From Valdez I drove down the coast to Bustamante, an isolated hacienda that back in the XX century started as a center of aquaculture where algae was collected and processed for food and pharmaceutical uses. Now it is a developing ecotourism center and the old housing for the workers has been fitted as cottages for tourists. It is a vast pristine area not yet widely known but I am sure it will become a center for nature lovers.

From Bustamante I roamed up the coast back to Trelew and visited the port of Camarones where I had the best seafood meal of the whole trip in an old gas station transformed into a restaurant by a couple of young entrepreneurs. Farther up the coast I ended up a Punta Tombo, the largest pinguinera in Argentina and perhaps the world. What an experience seen about 250 hundred thousands of Magellan penguins nesting over the hills along a small bay. No need to see another penguin for the rest of my life,a false statement, they are so cute and friendly.

From Trelew I flew to Calafate, where again I had visited in May of the previous year. In such a short time it has lost is quaint ways and is overcrowded with sprawling new real estate developments and hotels. Progress has paved the road to Perito Moreno glacier. After a couple of days here I departed for Chile.

I arrived in Puerto Natale which I visited in the last decade and rented a vehicle to go to Torres del Paine, probably my most favorite site in the world due to its massive granite towers, ice flows and glacial lakes.

I returned with 330 GBs of data or more specific about 24,000 images. Why so many? I took a lot of multiple photos for HDR images all over as well as wildlife. The trip went well when it came to transportation and accommodations but suffered photo equipment as well as some photographer’s failure. During my previous long trip to Africa last summer I ran out of storage space for the images but this time, one camera died and suffered from faulty exposure as well as the traditional autofocus problems. More to come from this wonderful trip.