Once again, the time had come to leave Taltal. It's
a bit like leaving your home town; you just know that you'll be back,
more a 'Hasta la vista' than a 'Adios'. The three car parties decided
to drive independently to Chañaral where we'd meet up for lunch.
As we drove south along Ruta 5, we commented on the
tracks that pointed west as we passed them. No sign posts, just
landmarks helped us to recognise them from previous trips: tracks to
Cifuncho, to Planta Las Luces, to Esmeralda and Pan de Azucar. We were
making good time and simultaneously suggested that we'd take the next
track off the Pan Am to take us to Caleta Pan de Azucar, for a last
look at Angie's favourites: C. columna-alba.
As we entered the National Park, the track surface
improved, but we'd have more of this 'wet-dust' stick to the car, as
the track had been sprayed very recently. We reached a fork in the
road (S573). North would lead to Las Lomitas, west to the Pan de
Azucar fishing village. I recognised the large Eriosyce
rodentiophila growing on the corner of the junction from a few
days ago and decided to stretch my legs and take its picture. Closer
up, the plant looked strange - a touch with my boot confirmed that it
had been dead for some time.
We took the turning sign posted to Aguada Los Sapos,
passed many times before, but never explored, at least not by me. We
took some nice shots (S574) of C. cinerascens with the Ocean
and the sugar-loaf island in the background, with plants now coming
into flower. The track came to an abrupt end. Had we reached Aguada
Los Sapos? Or was this another 'work in process' project?
S575 is for pictures taken south of the National
Park on the track to Chañaral. We looked up at the hills that are the
home for the illusive C. mollicula, overlooking the now disused
airport. They'd have to wait for at least another year for a more
detailed exploration. We tried the walkie-talkie and were able to make
contact with Juan, even though we were still a good 5 km from the
agreed rendez-vous. The others were already tucking into their lunch
and we gladly followed their example.
Juan had suggested a stop along Ruta 5 to look for,
I believe, Copiapoa barquitensis, that was supposed to grow
here on the easily accessible flats between the road and the Ocean,
instead of climbing up the steep 800 - 1,000 m high coastal hills. We
pulled up at the curiously named Playa Hippie (S576). Was it a
Copiapoa or a displaced Lophophora that we were looking
for? It did not matter, we found neither.
We made another stop (S577), this time closer to
Caldera, for some pictures of C. calderana, lots of plants,
lots of flowers and curious rock formations: lots of fun! Here, white
waxed and green stemmed plants were growing side by side. Again, we
found lots of small plants, signs of a healthy population with lots of
regeneration. The climate here was obviously kinder than further
north. A nice surprise was provided: Eriosyce (Thelocephala) krausi
(please correct me if I'm wrong, Juan.)
Another stop (S578) along Ruta 5, more (larger)
Thelocephala. The soil was removed to display the tap root of one
of these clumps, creating a sci-fi image resembling the cover of a
Terry Pratchet book.
S579 brought us to the Quebrada El Leon where in
2003 Ricardo and Ingrid showed us a cactus that they later described
as Copiapoa leonensis. At that time we found the plants growing
on the rocky hillsides, but a subsequent visit by Alain Larose and
friends suggested that these plants also grow on the 1 km plain
between the Quebrada and Ruta 5. We stopped to take a look, but the
light was getting bad and we also wanted to take some pictures of the
plants growing on the hill side at the mouth of the Quebrada, so we
did not find any in the flats and I only managed to find 3 plants as
we appeared to have picked a spot where goats regularly destroy the
vegetation. Somehow dense stands of Eulychnia breviflora had
managed to survive in the battle of survival with goats and
environment, but the indications were that the goats would be declared
eventual winners.
We found comfortable accommodation at the Hosteria
Puerto del Sol in Caldera, but were unable to find the eatery that
Ricardo and Rudolf had taken us to in 2003. No problem, we found a
more than adequate alternative, although I was distracted by the
antics of American wrestlers beating the **** out of each other on the
TV set immediately opposite me.
