We left early
as we had six stops scheduled today, taking us to the Botija Valley for a night
out, camping. As a result, by the time we made our first stop (S061)
at 7:37, the sun light was far from perfect for photography, as the sun was
still struggling to get above the coastal mountains - after all, we were less
than a month from the shortest day and the middle of the Chilean winter!. I see
from my notes that we IDed these plants as C. cinerea subsp. haseltoniana,
they certainly had the 'haseltoniana factor' of yellow / orange felt and spines
at the apex, but an unusually (?) high rib count of around 32.
A bit later,
but not much farther, near Playa Cachinales, we made our next stop (S062).
Here we found C. haseltoniana again, this time accompanied by C.
humilis as well as Eriosyce taltalensis and Eulychnia sp.
There was plenty of evidence of the presence of mice - their faeces and the
damage they had caused by gnawing at in particular the C. humilis stems.
Farther on
again, near the Minas Santa Domingo (S063),
we were fortunate to find a beautiful crested plant of C. haseltoniana
and the plants here had much longer and denser spination than seen at the
previous stop.
We reached
the small fishing village of Paposo, another name wellknown to Copiapoa
enthusiasts. From here, one track heads inland, to eventually meet up with Ruta
5, south of Antofagasta. Just out of Paposo, the track winds its way up the
coastal hill. On one of the bends, there is a small shrine, dedicated to the
Virgen de la Puntila and this was the goal of our next stop (S064).
As we walked carefully along the narrow path behind the shrine, we found first
one, then two then many small clumps of a tiny Copiapoa humilis form.
There was some evidence of digging, more likely by humans than by guanacos.
There were also a number of specimens of Eriosyce taltalensis subsp.
paucicostata.
Somehow, we
were the last car in the party of four to leave and we lost contact with the
other cars. At a fork in the road we appeared to take the wrong turn, as we
ended up on a dead end - the path finishing in an open, surprisingly green
field, basking in sunshine, with only some Eulychnia in poor health on
show. Keen to find the others, we turned back, drove up the other track for a
few miles, but again, found no sign of the others. As they were due to come back
down the hill to Paposo, the most sensible idea was for us to drive back to the
village and park our car at the cross roads that they would have to pass. We
asked some of the locals where we might be able to buy a cup of coffee. It
seemed that there was no such facility in Paposo, as Leo and I were shown into
the back room of one of the huts where the lady owner served us with a cup of
coffee, watched by an army of young children - surely not all her own! Marlon
and John had chosen to wait by the car, eager not to miss the others when they
came by, which they did just as Leo and I finished our cuppa.
And so on,
this time along the coast road, heading north, until Rudolf and Attila decided
that we had reached a nice spot for lunch (S065).
What a wonderful 'lunchroom' they had found us - surrounded by Copiapoa
haseltoniana of all shapes and sizes, from young plants to large barrel
shaped stems in a beautiful setting with a choice of backdrop consisting of
either the coastal hills or the Pacific Ocean with a snow-white, guano covered
island just off shore.
Refreshed, we
carried on north until Attila's lead car pulled off the road and headed for a
gap in the coastal hills. At the foot of the hills we stopped (S066)
and Rudolf announced we had arrived at the mouth of the Quebrada Botija. Our car
party looked at each other in surprise - this was the exact spot where we had
stopped earlier, on 21 May (S050).
We finished off today's ration of pictures, before setting up camp. For many of
us, this was the first time that the tents, bought in England and Brazil, had
been taken out of their wrapping, so instructions (why in Chinese?) were thrown
out and 'creative tent building' ensued. We waived goodbye to Benjy's car - with
John Ede on board, as they had elected to drive back to Taltal for a comfortable
night in the cabañas - before opening the absolutely essential (5 litre) bottles
of '120' (Chilean red wine, just a little bit more expensive then bottled
drinking water, very drinkable) - the ideal way to relax before a night on the
rocky desert ground.
As we were
enjoying ourselves around the camp fire of dead Eulychnia wood, the head
lights of a car approached from the south. We watched in amazement as it turned
off the road and made its way to our 'camp site'. The occupants, a man and a
woman, greeted Rudolf and introduced themselves as Raquel Pinto and Arturo
Kirberg, from Iqueque. Rudolf had exchanged e-mails with them and told them that
we planned to be here that night, and so they had driven some 500 km to meet us!
