One thing about our nights under canvas is that most of us find the desert floor so uncomfortable, once the sedation provided by wine and beer wears off, that people start getting up soon after sun rise, shortly after 6 a.m. I was one of the first ones up, keen to find a large rock for my early morning needs. I'm sure that I saw John as well and assumed that he was on a similar mission. Later it transpired that he had indeed walked from our informal camp site as the sun was setting and had been caught by surprise by the speed with which darkness falls at 25 degrees south of the Equator. He had called for help and listened for a reply but could hear the noise that we made around the camp fires. Everything was muffled by the sound of waves crashing on to the rocks. Dressed only in shorts and a T shirt, John had slipped in the dark and realised that nothing could be achieved until day light. So he sat on a rock and waited for day light to arrive, when he found his way back without much trouble.

Stories of large cat-like paw prints in the sand near to where John had appeared resulted in our camp site being referred to as Puma Bay during the rest of the trip, with the question 'Where is John?' often heard, together with suggestions that he'd be sitting on a rock, waiting for a mermaid to appear.  I doubt that you've heard the last of your adventure, John!

Having cleared away our tents, and with some seemingly looking for a Copec petrol station to meet at, we quickly set up the traditional group photograph as it would be difficult to get the whole group, now at its maximum size, together elsewhere.

Formalities over and done with, the group split up as car parties headed for the entrance of the Tigrillo Valley where Rudolf showed us Ritter's Copiapoa horniloensis, now called C. taltalensis. It seems that Ritter was not familiar with the plants found on 14 December, 1925 by Ivan M. Johnston and formally described by .Werdermann as Echinocactus horniloensis in 1929. Looser made the combination to the genus Copiapoa later that year. In 1980 Ritter comments that Werdermann's description in Backeberg's "Neue Kakteen“ is so vague that it could apply to most Copiapoa and that it is probably closest to C. humilis.although no plant in the Humilis complex has been reported from the area. And yet, his FR 526 found in February 1956 was certainly found in the right place for C. taltalensis. His collections of the type specimen of his C. hornillloensis were made seven years later in 1963, but his description was delayed until 1980. It was nice to 'put a face' to this controversial name.

Our next stop (S660) was at the opposite, Ocean, end of the Tigrillo Valley where a slightly different local form of  Copiapoa longistaminea can be found. From here it was just a short drive to Cifuncho, as the tracks in this part of the world have greatly improved with the increased mining activity. I guess every cloud has a silver lining. This site (S661) too has become a bit of a Copiapoathon tradition as each time I like to go back and check on a specimen of 'Copiapoa sp. Cifuncho' that has become known as 'Benjy's plant' as he was the first to show me pictures of this wonderful six-headed specimen following the 2001 Copiapoathon. I like to see that it's still OK and if there are any changes to its immediate environment. All was well, with no noticeable differences in its appearance when compared to pictures taken in 2006.  

It was again only a short drive to the northern end of Bahia Lavata, to somewhere between Punta Garcia and Punta Artigas, roughly where the track disappears in a soft sand stretch of desert. Copiapoa taltalensis was again the main draw, but the plants were in poor condition here.

I'm not sure who made the suggestion, but it seemed to be taken up eagerly by the rest of the group: 'Let's go and have lunch in Taltal.' And so it was that we ended up in Club Taltal where once again, our host treated the newbies to a guided tour of the club's premises that have a history dating back to the 1890's. We had driven round the town a few times, as I could not find my trusted land mark, the church on the Plaza in the centre of town. It had gone. It had burned down in January 2007 and had left a gap in Taltal's skyline.

Next, we went to find Hotel Gali (quickly renamed Hotel Ali G by the Brits) to check that the accommodation booked y Rudolf was in order. It was.

That night there was some frantic revision of plans as one by one, car parties announced that they were going to stay in Taltal, rather than join us for the scheduled trip north to Botija, Tocopilla and Calama. The logical thing was for everyone to do as they pleased. Leo, Ian and I in particular had our heart set on looking for C. tocopiliana and the near by Eriosyce laui. Leo was keen to remind me that whatever changes in plan there were, he was keen to keep this goal what ever happened.