The previous
day we had missed the Huasco Valley west of Vallenar, so the town of Huasco was
the first goal today. We stopped at Punta Huasco (S024),
where the railway, which is used to transport coal and ore from the mines, stops
and their cargo is transferred onto ships. The whole area, including the hill
immediate inland from the loading dock, is pitch black, covered by a thick layer
of coal dust. Still we were there, so we might as well search for cacti in this
unlikely place.
We were very
pleasantly surprised to find Copiapoa fiedleriana, Eriosyce (Horridocactus)
crispa and napina looking very healthy and Eulychnia iquiquensis
looking as though life was perhaps more of a struggle, despite their black
appearance. Their colour was purely due to the coal dust, as a wash revealed a
greener epidermis. We would still refer to the small button-like Eriosyce
by their 'old name' of Thelocephala. Within our small party, we all knew
what we meant and we also realised that they were now members of the much larger
and variable in size genus Eriosyce but for us the old name served as a
useful handle. I can always refer to a brief summary of the current concept of the genus when I'm writing. They
were incredibly difficult to find, if you were looking for them (none were in
flower), but were easier if you accidentally stumbled across one, while taking a
picture of another plant low down, or when I dropped my lighter and found
A little
further inland, between Bellavista and Huasco Bajo (S025)
we found similar plants, but this time without their black covering. The
Thelocephala also looked 'different' - something to check out later, when we
had seen more plants. I now believe these to be either Eriosyce (Horridocactus)
odieri or E. napina var duripulpa.
At Huasco
Bajo we spent some time looking for the bridge over the Rio Huasco to the
coastal track that leads to Carrizal Bajo. Yes, we got lost, most cactus
tourists do as the local population seemed quite used to explaining how to get
back on to 'the cactus route'. We were keen to see more plants, but were
disappointed at our next stop (S026)
where we found nothing of any (cactoid) interest. I only took two digital images
to record some of the scenery.
And so we
drove on to the area marked on our 1:100,000 map as Llano los Hornicos, still
south of Agua de Luna for S027.
Here we had more luck, finding Eulychnia iquiquensis, Eriosyce sp. and,
according to my notes, Copiapoa fiedleriana. I say 'according to my
notes' because as, two years later, I peruse my slides, there are none of
Copiapoa for this stop. In the field in 2001, we were often so excited and
busy taking pictures, quickly scribbling notes as the car pulled off, that
matching slides to pictures back in the UK, only a month (but many more cactus
stops) later was quite a challenge. I resolved at the time not to make the same
mistake again and now rely on a digital camera to ensure that the first digital
image at a stop is of a small card showing the stop number or of the GPS
receiver, showing the latitude and longitude which is written in my note book
before other pictures are taken. When my SLR camera comes out to take some shots
on slide film, the same shot is also taken on my digital camera, so that sorting
the slides should be a simple matter of comparing slides against digital images
that are electronically sorted in time/date order. It also saves the time
consuming task of scanning in all the slides later, as I find searching through
scanned slides on my monitor more convenient than holding individual slides up
against the light or on a light box when preparing talks.
We passed the
sign for Agua de Luna (which is not actually shown on our maps) and stopped (S028)
to find Copiapoa echinoides, C. fiedleriana, Eriosyce (Horridocactus) odieri.
Names on maps (that were printed in 1967 using aerial photographs taken in
1954!) do not always tie in to names on road signs found today. Also, roads may
have 'moved' from the original track to a better asphalt road that takes a more
direct line between villages.
Our next stop
(S029) was near Caleta
Angusta (according to the sign posts) or inland from Punta Agua de Patillo
(according to the map - the road has moved closer to the coast since the map was
drawn). What beautiful plants (Copiapoa dealbata our first 'white'
Copiapoas) but what an awful location: the local rubbish tip, where the plants
grew between disposable nappies, empty bottles and other non-degradable waste.
Still, we took some great pictures, carefully angling the shots to capture the
plants and not too much background, although some shots to illustrate the
setting were also essential.
A little
further (S030) was much
better - a small gully providing the perfect setting for large clumps of C.
dealbata ideal for a group picture (and again in 2003 -
S200 and 2004 -
S307) with many crested
plants as well as much smaller, often single headed densely spined Copiapoa (echinata?)
and C. echinoides. It was difficult to know which way to point the camera
first and how many rolls of film / flash cards to fill.
We forced
ourselves to drive on and arrived at the small village of Carrizal Bajo. From
here we had a choice - drive north, as the coastal track passed through a (then)
dried up river bed (but see 3 June 2001) or turn east (according to our more up
to date Turistel high level map, a better road), and head for Ruta 5 for a
reasonably quick return to Vallenar. We chose the latter, following the Quebrada
Carrizal stopping (S031) to
take some more shots of C. dealbata to the right of the road and again (S032)
as a 'different' Copiapoa had joined C. dealbata, but what name
should we give it? It had features of C. echinoides but more elongated
stems than the plants that we had identified as such earlier. There was some
resemblance with C. marginata as well. Perhaps there was some sense
behind my statement that Copiapoa are just one highly variable species. (This
statement was made to prompt some reaction from those more experienced than I,
but does not seem to go away.).
