Angie & I
left home in Wiltshire at around 10 a.m. on Friday 3 November, to visit my parents
and leave my car in their care before taking a taxi to near by London's
Gatwick Airport. Strict security measures following terrorist alerts a
couple of months earlier had eased a bit, but were still cause for
some concern as the details of weights and contents of hand luggage
presented a few challenges. We were comfortably within the overall
luggage weight restrictions but my rucksack ('hand luggage') was
weighed down by a laptop, two cameras, an extra lens and an array of
chargers etc (why does each manufacturer insist on producing its own,
unique, charger for each model?) and easily heavier than the 8 lbs
suggested by the signage at the airport. No one seemed
interested and we progressed on to the flight to Madrid and (after the
usual 'essential' hours of waiting) the 13 hour flight to Santiago.
Yes, direct to Santiago, without the stop and change of plane at
Buenos Aires experienced in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
Clearly we don't travel
enough, as we were unaware of the on-line check in facility that would
have enabled us to reserve the favourite extra leg-room seats with
easy window & aisle access 24 hours before departure. As a
result we found ourselves in the middle of the plane, where Angie at
least had an aisle seat. My solution is
to focus my mind on where I'll be after the flight, so I pictured myself on
the rocks at Pichidangui, with Pacific Ocean waves breaking, causing a
light spray for the benefit of the local flora that includes
Eriosyce chilensis (albidiflora), E. subgibbosa and E. curvispina (mutabilis),
Eulychnia castanea and Echinopsis (Trichocereus) chiloensis.
The journey went without
any hitches so that by early Saturday afternoon, the dream that got me
through the flight had turned into reality. Angie is reviewing
her digital images as I am writing these notes and has just shown me
one from this stop that she has entitled 'Cacti, weeds and sea'. The
'weeds' include flowering Alstroemeria,
Carpobrotus chilensis, Oxalis bulbocastanum
and a whole range of other local flowering
annuals.
Earlier we had stopped off at Pichicuy and La
Ballena (S511), small fishing hamlets, to
check out the impact of tourism that is threatening both the plants
and the raw charm of Pichidangui, where roads are now being paved and
sidewalks prepared. Angie, whose son Adrian has cerebral palsy and is
the Michael Schumacher of the motorised wheelchair community, was
impressed to see how much progress had been made with wheel chair
accessibility in mind, compared to her previous visit in 2003 - very
encouraging! Despite these 'oases' in the concrete wheel chair user's
desert, there were still huge areas that would have been an
insurmountable challenge, even to Adrian.
At Pichicuy (S510),
the fishing boats fight for space on the sandy beach with homes and
shops immediately along the beach - not much room for plants here. At
La Ballena, away from the fisherman's beach, we found a similar flora
to 'our' shore side spot, our next stop in Pichidangui: Alstroemeria
spaculata (?), Carpobrotus
chilensis, Eriosyce chilensis
or
E.
subgibbosa -
impossible to
tell when they are not in flower, Eulychnia castanea, Nolana
sp., Oxalis bulbocastanum, Puya
venusta, Trichocereus chiloensis
and T. litoralis.
The Pichidangui stop (S512)
is quite special. Quite by accident we stopped here in 2001 on our way
to the Airport - the last stop on our first trip. Only 200 km from the
airport, it is the ideal first and last stop, providing great
continuity between trips. It has been described as a 'Neoporteria
paradise', with three species growing together. In May 2001 and June
2003, Eriosyce subgibbosa were in flower; in October 2004,
E. chilensis var albidiflora was in full bloom. These plants grow
side by side on the rocks in the spray of the Pacific Ocean and when
not in flower are almost indistinguishable. Their different flowering
seasons mean that they are genetically separated: there is little
opportunity for hybridisation - even though a rare 'out of season'
plant can be found with the odd flower during the other species peak
flowering period. On the flat area above the rocks, an area right in
front of recent tourist home developments, a third species,
Eriosyce curvispina (= N. mutabilis) can still be found,
although it is under threat of competition of introduced garden plants
such as Agaves and the invasive
Carpobrotus
chilensis.
On
the uncultivated parts, small multi-headed plants can be found, often
damaged as people walk or cycle across them. Ironically, in the
recently cultivated area, large specimens can be found competing with
the recently planted Carpobrotus. Sadly, my money is on
the Carpobrotus to win the battle.
A small area,
north of the church of St Teresa, has been set aside as a protected
ecosystem zone, is walled off and is only open to the public between 9
a.m. and 11 p.m., but the 1.50 m (5 ft) wall has not prevented the
introduced plants from providing unfair competition. Time will tell if
this small area can preserve the cactus diversity that so impressed us
on our first visit. We'll be back on our way to Santiago at the end of
the trip.
