Argentina & Chile November 2008 Day 6-Taltal - Antofagasta 300km

[David_L]

That really was a very sad sight (and site too) The plants here appeared doomed if the opencast mine expands as seems likely. They were already covered in a layer of grey dust from the mining activities, but otherwise looked quite healthy. I notice I hedged my bets when naming these plants and have them down as Copiapoa cinerea 'gigantea eremophila' We took our photos and beat a fairly hasty retreat before we attracted too much attention.

[attachment 16825 Copiapoa_cin_gigantea_eremo.jpg]

[David_L]

Our next stop was at Paposo. This is an unprepossessing little fishing village and we found a shack open by the harbour where a lady was selling drinks and a few odds and ends to supplement our rations. There was a fishing boat in the harbour, about to leave I think, and these two brown pelicans were keeping an eye on it in case any scraps were thrown out.


[attachment 16826 Brown_pelican.jpg]

[David_L]

Here we are eating our lunch overlooking the harbour.


[attachment 16827 Paposo.jpg]

[David_L]

If you have a picnic near the sea you will always attract attention!


[attachment 16828 Kelp_gull2.jpg]


Kelp Gull

[David_L]

This is a panoramic view across the bay at Paposo. This sequence of bays and headlands is very typical of this coastline. Once we left Paposo heading North on the coast track ( I refuse to call it a road!) we were confronted by a never ending series of these.


[attachment 16829 Paposo_bay.jpg]

[Mike P]

And to combine them all....
[attachment 16830 g1.jpg]
Cheery fishermen, pelicans and seagull.

[Mike P]

The 'road' out of town.
[attachment 16831 gg1.jpg]
Perfect terrain for a mini bus to negotiate. This was the prospect for the rest of the day as we wound up and down and in and out of the bays. I gave up marking progress on my map when I realised that it only gave a general sense of the headlands and bays and was not an accurate representation of the coastline.

[David_L]

This whole are would have needed days to explore. We had an afternoon and a whole lot of kms of extremely bad road to cover before reaching Antofagasta. We passed loads of interesting looking plants as well as barren areas with absolutely nothing growing at all. Eventually I saw something on the side of the track that made me beg a halt. This was it.


[attachment 16833 Neoporteria_paucicostata.jpg]

Eriosyce (Neoporteria) paucicostata

[David_L]

When we got out of the van it was clear that this was an exceptional little spot which was considerably greener than much of the area. Presumably it benefited from heavy sea fogs and showers off the nearby sea. There were many Eriosyce (Neoporteria) paucicostata here looking very healthy, most in bud and it seemed we had only missed flowering by a few days.


[attachment 16834 Neoporteria_paucicostata2.jpg]

[David_L]

There were many young plants as well, showing signs of new growth.


[attachment 16835 Neoporteria_paucicostata4.jpg]