Somehow, we had gained a day - it is not a bad thing
to build in some contingency time for emergencies into your plans - and
the previous night we had discussed how we might use this. Benjy was keen to
spend a day catching up on washing his socks (or was he chatting up the hotel
receptionist?) while Paul Sherville wanted to see more of the town of La
Serena. The remaining seven of us had therefore the chance to spread out in
the cars a bit more and took up my suggestion to drive up the Elqui Valley as
far as Pisco Elqui - the village that gives its name to what had become one of
our favourite cocktails - refreshing, but packs a punch!
Out of La Serena it seemed that the tarmac went much
further in land than it had done in 2001 and it seemed that more agricultural
development had occurred. We made straight for Embalsa Puclaro, a dam
built in the Elqui river that had created a large lake (below which, no doubt,
lots of interesting cacti might have grown in by-gone days.) Water levels in
the lake were at their high point and trees and shrubs that had been growing
on the lake side poked their branches skyward like drowning men pleading for
help. We had stopped here early on in our 2001 trip (S006) and I was
keen to see if the wonderful white spined Eriosyce senilis crest that
we had found that time, growing at a lay by along the road, was still there -
this time as S205. After some searching, it was found in an area that
was being fenced off as property of the local river authority. Growing under a
bush, it had escaped the attention of visitors. It's immediate neighbours were
the same species and illustrated the wide range of spine colours, while
Copiapoa coquimbana, and 'sp.' of Echinopsis and Eulychnia
grew near by.
In 2001, Leo had judged a track with a large 'No
Entry' sign at the entrance to be a good place to head south, to look for
Copiapoa on the north facing slopes of the valley. We found the track, but
this time there was a barbed wire fence to stop us, and no space on the road
to park two cars and explore on foot. The next turn took us into a small group
of dwellings, probably families that had found work in the growing agriculture
industry - but no track into the hills. This opportunity presented itself on a
track, sign posted as leading to the El Tollo Observatory that we could see
glistening high on the hill tops in the distance. It was a good track, well
maintained for access by and to the star gazers. It turned out that they
preferred their privacy, as, after a couple of kilometres, a barrier and guard
post prevented our progress. The guard said it was OK to leave our cars near
the gate and to explore the terrain around it (S206). His huge Alsatian
guard dog accompanied us and proved a friend of the cacti by watering each
plant we came to - an Eriosyce (Neoporteria) sp and a large robust form
of C. coquimbana including some crested plants - always worth a
picture!
Returning to the main road, we drove on, up the Elqui
Valley through marvellous scenery and small villages. When the GPS indicated
that we had reached an altitude of 1,500 m. we stopped (S207) to
stretch our legs and look for cacti - but the only species found was
Opuntia ficus-indica, baking in the sun at this high altitude - e few days
after the shortest day in the middle of the South American winter - snow
capped mountains in the background!
We had a nice relaxed drive back to La Serena, each
car party making different individual stops.
Ian writes about their trip back:
'We stopped in one village (Paiguano or Rivadavia?)
where there was a cactus shop alongside the road, selling some lovely
Eriosyce at approx £3-4! We also stopped at a likely looking area where
there was parking and access to a hillside that had ceroid plants, large
succulents and Opuntiods visible. This was similar in appearance to other
hillsides we had seen in the distance on both our forays up the valleys. The
hillside was steep granite type rock that was fairly treacherous - enough to
keep Anne and Bryan near the car - however I went exploring and found quite
a few Eriosyce - both quite large and small, most with seed. Finn
also risked life and limb and was also suitably impressed by what we saw.
The reason that I mention these stops is that even
with encroachment of agriculture it appears that these Eriosyce are
quite widespread throughout the area and grow in places where they are
probably quite safe. Of course that is not to say that countless plants have
been lost through agriculture. One wonders what else might grow away from
roads and ready access?'
Cliff, Angie and I stopped of for refreshments at
Monte Grande, the birth place of Nobel Prize winning poet Gabriela Mistral,
before making one more stop (S208) along an old track running parallel
to the road between the El Algarroba and La Campagna turn-offs. We had seen
some wonderful Echinopsis (Trichocereus) from the main road before, but
had been unable to find a suitable place to pull up. There was also a nice
Eriosyce (Neoporteria) sp. that I still have to find a name for - it is
highly variable - some plants were short, stout spined while others had much
longer, wispy spination. We could see fruits on these, but out of reach
from ground level. So, battle had to be done - against vegetation (both cacti
and all shrubs found here (Acacia?) were heavily spined to keep out
intruders - and the geology, steep rock faces made up of very crumbly material
that gave way underfoot or came off in your hand. I managed to get a few
fruits and a nasty gash in my right hand as I slid down a rock face - another
war wound from a South American Expedition.
