TEACHER NOMAD: TWO HIKES - CORNICES AND LAGUNA AZUL

Dec 4 - We slept in a bit and went to breakfast We were to meet our guide for the first hike which was called Cornices. When we first got to the hotel we sat down with the head guide and decided which hikes we were going to take. Horse back riding seemed too much given the level of my riding, and I've never really been a spa/massage person - too antsy. We picked half day hikes for the first two days and on our last day here (at Tierra patagonia - the hotel) we'd go for a full day hike.

There were a lot of people signed up for the hike which specialised in flora and fauna. The hotel guides take groups of 6 which is very nice. There were two groups of us on our way to Cornices. Our guide was Nacho who really was great. The four others were from Colorado and were also a wonderful bunch to be with.

Off we went - our first piece of wild life was a Caracal sitting on a post. I had only seen them in zoos before.

The van parked and we began to walk up a hill. We used hiking sticks which I had never used before. They're great! We were had only gone a little ways when we saw a group of condors circling around. Really amazing to see them.

Another caracal on a ledge.

Our first guanaco sighting. Little did we know that the area is teeming with them

The head of an indian in the rock.

The circling condors showed where there was a fresh kill. The first group to arrive were caracals. A grey fox moved in, waited for a bit, then then caracals stepped back and the fox had a turn at the kill.

Off to the left are some condors who are last to dine waiting.

One of the condors was losing patience a bit waiting for the fox. The condors claws aren't strong enough to lift any prey. The can stuff 4 kg of meat into their craws and keep it there for days.

The wing spread gives an idea of the size of these birds. Their wingspan is 3 meters. Albatrosses are apparently larger, but we haven't seen them.

This is our group of six. Charlie and me in the front. In the back Lynn and her husband who were former state department people. Chris and his wife Linda. They were all from Colorado.

Me with my sticks - love 'em. Borrowed them for the hike.

This area had been a sea. Nacho was holding a fossil to prove it to us.

On the way back to the hotel we saw some rheas. They are remarkably hard to see because they are so well camouflaged. The males take care of the chicks. They begin with as many as 15, then after predation by foxes, pumas, and anything else that likes poultry, they usually are followed by 2 chicks.

Just after I said that I'd never seen an armadillo - voila - one wandered in the bushes near the hotel.

We went back to the hotel, had a lovely lunch then at 3:30 went out for our second hike, Laguna Azul. It turned out to be more of a car ride. Our car companions were Anthia and Ian from Australia. Our first stop was the Laguna Amarga. It's a lake that has a lot of calcium carbonate. The water is very basic 9.2. Calcium deposits leach out of the water, it has anaerobic bacteria that release oxygen, lots of krill like creatures, and flamingoes!

A view of lake Amarga from the road.

The flamingoes

You can see some of the calcium deposits around the edge.

An enormous ranch owned most of the land outside the park. The photo below shows a hostel that had been built against one of the lakes.

We then went along the Paine River. There were lovely rapids and then an odd waterfall - kind of three sided.

We ended our tour at Laguna Azul. It was a lovely park. No real hiking in this tour. Charlie asked if we'd walk around the lake and received a giggle as a reply.