The timestamp on my first image of the day told me that it was taken at 8:58 as I wrote down stop number S718 in my notebook as the reference of today's stop at our usual place. So was there really anything new that I could discover today. Not really, todays pictures extended my library of images from this location to include the first pictures I have taken during the month of December, to add to pictures previously taken during May, June, October and November. So it will take a minimum of only another seven months to complete the annual picture. Something to look forward to!

Our next stop would be at a cactus nursery friend of Juan & Florencia, Sergio de la Guarda. Juan managed to make telephone contact and made an appointment to meet Sergio at his Nursery. Sergio offered to meet us in town and take us to his home for a look round his bedded out private collection (S719) first. And an excellent collection it was too, that had taken lots of time and effort over many (I believe 5) years to build. Again, the majority of cacti were Chilean endemics. Sadly, towards the end of Spring, most of the flowering was over. Two gigantic Agave americana had flowered and sadly would now start their slow death.

All plants were carefully and clearly labelled with labels including habitat population details and so it was very convenient to compare forms from different habitat locations as here they were growing side by side. As they were growing in the same soil and enjoy identical cultivation conditions, any differences must be due to genetic differences rather than environmental factors. Most of the Eriosyce were in fruit, which was a bit worrying, as Sergio also had some 500 beehives on site as export of honey is another of his commercial activities. He assured us that none of this seed is used in his commercial growing. Plants included rare Eriosyce, such as E. garaventae that we hoped to see the next day, E. aspillagae that we planned to see a few days later and E. engleri, which would escape us this year.  The silhouette of the hills that dominate the Parque Nacional La Campana, where E. garaventae  grows near the peak of the highest mountain. At least  now I was able to take an advance picture.

For S720, we moved to Sergio's commercial nursery, details of which can be found on his website. In addition to cacti and other succulents, the nursery also sells palm trees and native trees. The succulents are either available as single plants in a pot or as small bowls containing a small mixed cactus / succulent garden. Many of the cacti raised from habitat collected seed and recognises the importance of differences in species from different localities. One sales bench had Eriosyce subgibbosa ssp. subgibbosa from seven different localities, all carefully labelled. But why am I telling you all this? Much better to take a look on his website.

When we said our goodbyes in Taltal, Ricardo and Ingrid had said to drop in anytime we were passing, so we had phoned ahead to say we were hoping to see Eriosyce garaventae in habitat, and as it grows on the top of 'the hill next door' to Alvaralto .......

Angie and I had enjoyed their great hospitality here during the last couple of days of our 2006 trip and still enjoyed the memories and pictures taken during that stay. Ricardo had written to tell us of a freak frost last winter that had killed many of the fruit trees on the estate.

Reading about such things is one thing, but seeing the aftermath really brings home how fast nature can undo something that had taken so much effort to build up. But like nature's power to recover, so here too the rebuilding program was underway. Fortunately most of the cacti had survived the frost. 

Perhaps due to the higher altitude, here many of the cacti, including Mammillaria and Echinocereus were in full bloom, but apparently the full peak of flowering had been a month earlier. But as always, it was the extra touch provided by the most unlikely things that Ingrid would find on their cactus explorations that gave this extra dimension to this plant collection. One example, added since last year, was a display of spent ammunition cartridges and mortar shells, picked up at the Navy's exercise area north of Cifuncho that we had visited earlier this trip. Ian had found a similar mortar shell that he was taking home. I suggested that he'd polish it and give it to his BCSS Branch in Exeter as the trophy for the winner of the Copiapoa class in their annual show. I wonder if he managed to get this item through security and customs.  

Florencia had sorted out the domestic issues at Lonquen and joined us for tomorrow's adventure and the rest of the trip.