'Copiapoa Country' - roughly the coastal strip
between Tocopilla in the north and the Rio Lamari in the south, together
with the western ends of the valleys of the major river systems in this area
- has been surprisingly well documented for such a sparsely populated area.
Some of the early reports are from botanists, with those of Rodolfo Philippi
and Ivan Johnston as the most important; geologists, in connection with
mining, such as Thomas Bridges, and more recently by cactus explorers and
cactus tourists, with Friedrich Ritter and the recent Copiapoathons perhaps
representing opposite ends of this spectrum.
In recent times, the most
important contribution in literature on this subject is 'Copiapoa in their
Environment' (1996) by Rudolf Schulz and Atilla Kapitany and the
eagerly awaited 'Copiapoa in their Environment - 2006' by Rudolf Schulz.
Here is a selection of
travelogues:
