We said our goodbyes to Leo and Rudolf: 'Take care -
see you somewhere, sometime'. As the km. posts on Ruta 5 provided
another indication that we were getting closer to Santiago and the end of our
holiday, we over came our sadness by looking forward to another day in the
field.
There did not seem to be anything too exciting near
the Pan Americana, until south of Domeyko, we passed some fields where (we
believe) Chilli peppers were laid out to dry in the sun. No cacti were found,
but the scenery was worthy of some pictures (S201).
It was noticeable how much greener everything was
becoming as we were travelling south - much greener than it had been
throughout our May 2001 trip and greener still than when we passed over this
stretch of Pan American Highway on our way north, some 3 weeks earlier. When
we reached El Trapiche, the local Copiapoa coquimbana form was simply
bursting and well worth a stop for some pictures (S202) - lots of fruit
and seed. Cumulopuntia sphaerica was in flower and Miqueliopuntia
miquelii in bud and in fruit - but where were its elusive flowers? The
Eulychnia and Echinopsis (Trichocereus) sp. also coloured up the
landscape, covered as they were with the bright red flowers of the parasite:
Tristerix aphyllus. One of my favourite books - 'A Cactus Odyssey' by
Mauseth, Kiesling & Ostalaza - has a section dedicated to this parasite that
we found in various locations growing on Eulychnia, Trichocereus
(apparently its favourite host), Miqueliopuntia miquelii and even on
Copiapoa coquimbana! May be there is more than one species, with different
host preferences - something else to read up on in the fullness of time.
We drove on a bit and took the turning to Los Choros.
They seemed to be improving the track and at a new T junction had to decide if
we should take the left or right turn. Some 10 km later we discovered
that we should have taken the right, as we had merely looped back to the
original track, but not before another stop (S203). Here we
found much the same cacti as at the previous stop, but the scenery looked even
more lush, with small shrubs of Nolana rupicola and Oxalis gigantea
in full flower. The flowering seemed to be infectious, as at long
last we found Miqueliopuntia miquelii with a nice pink flower. Nobody
said that taking its picture had to be easy - it was growing right in the
middle of a huge 10 m clump. It took a bit of courage (foolishness?) to wade
through to get some good shots. The Echinopsis (Trichocereus) sp. here
was in advanced bud and, just before getting back to the cars, we even found a
few in flower. Eriosyce heinrichana subsp. simulans completed the
flower activity - a nice stop!
Back on Ruta 5, we wound ourselves down 'The Bends'
at La Higuera and stopped along the road near Los Hornos (S204) - again
the same plants as at the previous stops today, but even more abundant
flowering - with the Miqueliopuntia this time obligingly producing its
flowers near the edge of a clump, so that another suicide mission could be
avoided.
Another great day, rounded off by arriving at the
luxury hotel we had stayed at on the way north, and an evening of shopping for
souvenirs at the Mercado La Recova.
