The next morning we had
to drive through a very poor suburb to reach the habitat of
Copiapoa megarhiza.
Between the valley where this suburb was located and a similar
neighbouring suburb was a hill that resembled a battle ground for
youths from both these townships. The numerous stones provided
ample amunition. If one side made too much ground, elder brothers
and fathers joined in as the cheering victors chased the others
youths fleeing down the hill. The scene was then repeated from the
other side. In the midst of this chaos we attempted to find plants
of this well known Copiapoa
and fortunately succeeded. However, we had to keep a close eye
on our car and its contents. After risking ourselves to take a few
more photographs of this plant we left the battlefield to drive
back to the coast where we found a reasonable hotel with a very
funny penguin that was allowed to roam around freely. Early the
next morning we walked along the coast and after a few hours
reached an area where, according to Ritter, we would find the
'real' original Thelocephala odieri.
Well, after a long
search, we did manage to find a few of these plants that were
carefully recorded photographically for posterity. Of course there
were many more plants than we saw, but they are so covered in dust
and grit that they are only visible when they are in flower. We
spent the whole day on this exercise, s that we had to stay
another night at our hotel. The next morning, driving north, we
searched for hours for Thelocephala krausii,
of which some 95% appeared to be dried up and dead. It seems that
this species has become extinct through the drought. On the way
back, that eventually lead to Chañaral, we found the rare Thelocephala longirapa,
with roots in excess of
30 cm in length, Thelocephala malleolata var. solitaria
and
Eriosyce megacarpa, growing among gravel and rocks. It was
nearly dark when we reached the town that was in the middle of a
big fiesta. In our small bedroom next to the market square we were
kept awake to deep in the night by the sounjd from the sceaming
loudspeakers. So this was civilisation. We agreed that we'd rather
sleep in the lonely wilderness where the occasional howl of a
desert fox is the only noise to be heard.
Up to Chañaral we had
climbed a number of quite high, steep hillside, where to my
amazement, my wife had often joined in. It is unbelievable how
much we enjoyed ourselves, especially now, with hindsight we
realise how marvellous a time we had. The simple primitive life in
absolute nature is for us so-called civilised people an absolute
revelation, especially if you are a lover of cacti and nature.
That my wife also enjoyed this experience is worthy of a special
mention, as, at her age, she coped marvellously with situations
that many a younger woman would have struggled with. Ritter, aged
70, easily beat both of us in terms of fitness. He climbed the
steepest mountains with the ease of a mountain goat, often far
ahead of both of us.
