Patagonia Puma, Chiloe Pudu, Chile Feb.2019

[mapumbo]

The next morning we left early to take a boat ride up the ;Thepu River.  It is the largest river on Chiloe.  We were in quest of a sighting of the few remaining Southern River Otters.  Due to habitat loss and competition with the introduced American Mink there is an estimated number of only 2000 otter left. The Thepu River has some of the best habitat left for them.

 

Rafa has been coming here for many years and has built up a relationship with a boatman named Fernando.  Fernando and his family live near the river and operate a restaurant and his guiding service.  

 

We spent quite  some time cruising up stream searching for the otter.  We did see some new birds along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is still a wild river with very little human habitation on the part we were on.  We traveled as far as the normal habitat where the otter can be found.  Then turned back and slowly searched the return route just as carefully.  We were just to the edge where the river opens up and the habitat is not as suitable for the otter and I could see Fernando settle in to throttle up the motor to head back to the dock.  Just then Mama Ndege shouts out, "what is that over there?"  Sure enough, there is one of the Southern River Otters swimming next to shore  What an exciting moment.  Normally, a quick glance is all you get of them.  This otter decided to put on a show for us.  He swam out to our boat and would swim around and under and come up and look at us and make little grunting noises.  We knew this was something special, since Rafa was filming a video and as excited as we were.  He told us afterward how lucky we were to see him for such an extended time.  

 

After swimming around the boat for quite a number of minutes, he headed back over toward the shore and resumed his searching for food.  We knew we had been truly privileged to have our time with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove a couple miles to Fernando's families restaurant and had a great meal.  His wife greeted Rafa like an old friend and we settled in for the meal with the fantastic view of the Thepu River Valley below us.

 

 

 

 

 

SLENDER-BILLED PARAKEET

[mapumbo]

After lunch near the river we headed to our next stay in the largest city on the island, Castro.  When we saw our itinerary we wondered why we were staying in a different hotel every night on the island.  We never realized how large this island is so we were moving south and saving time by staying at new places along the way.

 

Castro is the major seaport for the island.  They have these houses that are on stilts and colorfully painted on the shore.  These buildings have been converted into small hotels, hostels and B&B's.  These structures are called Palafito's.  Where we were staying is called Palafito Waiwen.  It is a combo hostel with added private rooms.  The rooms are small but we had a nice view onto the bay.

 

ONE OF THE FEW WOODEN BOAT BUILDING BUSINESSES LEFT ON THE ISLAND

 

 

 

ROW OF PALAFITO'S WHERE WE WERE STAYING

 

 

 

 

WALKWAY UP TO THE MAIN SQUARE WHERE THEY WERE REPAINTING THE WALL

 

 

We walked up to the main square of Castro which was not far.  What we liked about traveling with Rafa is that he combined birding and nature along with some culture.  Also, we had some interesting conversations about the history and people of the country of Chile.

 

Most of the wooden churches on Chiloe Island are Jesuit.  The main cathedral in Castro is Franciscan.  It is called San Francisco de Castro.  It is painted on the outside unlike most of the other wooden churches.  We had an enjoyable visit checking out the wonderful woodwork on the inside.  The people who built the church were boat builders so they used their craftsmanship to build there church in the same medium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then walked back on our own and stopped at a market to buy some cheese and bread to take back to the room for our evening meal.  We kept commenting about how friendly the people were.  Most would look you in the eye and smile and say Ola.  Also, the drivers would stop if you were near a crosswalk and motion you across in front of them.

 

February is of course summer in the southern hemisphere.  February is the month when most Chileans take there vacation.  Nearly all of the people we saw on Chiloe Island were Chileans with their families taking their vacation.  We noticed very few Americans or Europeans in the crowds.

 

 

 

 

 

SEA LIONS ON A BUOY 

Edited March 3, 2019 by mapumbo

[Tom Kellie]

~ @mapumbo

 

The slender-billed Parakeet is a lovely bird.

 

Once again, a species about which I'd never heard. 

 

Parakeets so far south? Remarkable!

 

The photo of the wooden boat under construction is especially nice.

 

The wooden church interior — Wow!

 

Thank you so much for this installment of your trip report.

 

Tom K.

[mapumbo]

13 hours ago, Tom Kellie said:

~ @mapumbo

 

The slender-billed Parakeet is a lovely bird.

 

Once again, a species about which I'd never heard. 

 

Parakeets so far south? Remarkable!

 

The photo of the wooden boat under construction is especially nice.

 

The wooden church interior — Wow!

 

Thank you so much for this installment of your trip report.

 

Tom K.

 

Tom,

We saw many large flocks of the slender billed parakeets, but they seldom sat in one tree for any length of time to get a good photo.  There is another parakeet down there called the Austral Parakeet.  We caught glimpses of them but they are hard to distinguish between each other.

We took a tour of the wooden boat works a couple days later when we returned back to Castro.  Should have more pictures to post of that.

[mapumbo]

We lift Castro the next morning headed south again toward a private reserve.  Chiloe Island is 120 miles long and 40 miles wide.  The southern almost third of the island is completely wild, virgin forest.  There are not even any roads through a vast part of it.  The private reserve is on the North side of where the island gets wild and uninhabited.  Patricio Campos purchased this tract of land of around 40,000 acres in the 1980's and built a resort and developed trails and roads to conduct and preserve a nature reserve.

 

 

WOODEN CHURCH WE STOPPED AT ON THE WAY OUT OF CASTRO

 

 

RUFOUS-TAILED PLANTCUTTER ON A BLACKBERRY BUSH

 

We arrived at the reserve called Tepuhueico Park.  It borders the Tepuhueico Lake.  A number of years ago there was a bridge to the resort but it has gotten washed out.  Now you have to call ahead to Patricio the owner and have him come 20 minutes across from the lodge with his boat and pick you up.  Rafa left his car in a farmers yard across the road where it would be safe while we were at the lodge.  This place is truly wild country.  We were the only guests except for some family or friends who were staying in one of the two family cottages.  There is a very small staff, mostly Patricio's family and a young man who is a fine chef.  They come over when they have guests.  We felt like this place needed more tourist activity.  It has great trails, some rare endemic species, and this fabulous lodge.  They unfortunately are handicapped because of the remote location and the difficulty in getting to the lodge.

 

ON THE BOAT APPROACHING THE LODGE DOCK.  THE LODGE CAN BE SEEN IN THE CENTER

 

 

 

 

 

BLOSSOM OF THE GIANT RHUBARB PLANT

 

 

 

 

 

 

LODGE AND GROUNDS

 

 

 

SOUTHERN CRESTED CARACARA

[mapumbo]

We arrived at the lodge before lunch and got settled in and checked things out in and around the lodge.  The rooms are really nice and the second story of the main lodge has the eating area plus a round 360 degree view of the area.  There is also an outside terrace that is about half way around that you can walk out and look for birds or mammals passing through.

 

We took a nice walk after lunch starting from the lodge.  The first order of business was to find the bird who we kept hearing with such a beautiful song.  We quickly found one of them near the front of the lodge.  It is called a Chucao.  They are just as stunning as their song.

 

 

CHUCAO

 

 

We started our walk through the forest.  They have put much effort into maintaining trails.  We really enjoyed our walks.

 

WATERFALL ALONG TRAIL

 

 

 

 

SOME OF THE TREES ARE UP TO 800 YEARS OLD

 

 

 

 

We heard a Magellanic Woodpecker pecking on a tree.  We spotted the male, then a female, and finally a juvenile.  What a beautiful specimen.  Sorry no pictures,  they were way up in the canopy.

 

 

 

 

MY FRIENDS WOULD PROBABLY NOT CALL ME A TREE HUGGER, BUT I WAS LISTENING TO THE VIBRATION OF THE TREE FROM THE BEAT OF THE WOODPECKER

 

 

AUSTRAL PARAKEET

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLACK THROATED HUET-HUET

[mapumbo]

After that nice walk with lots of birding and beautiful scenery, we had our dinner and waited and hoped that a pudu would come out on the front lawn where they often graze.  A pudu is a deer that is about 2 foot tall.  It is the smallest deer in Chile.  Rafa was shining his light around the perimeter and thought that he had spotted the even more rare Kod Kod Cat.  The eyes were close to the ground so he thought it was the cat.  Mama Ndge said, no it is a pudu. It was just getting dark so no pictures.  This is one of the reasons we wanted to come to Chiloe Island, thus our good luck on seeing rare endemic species was holding up.  Getting a sighting of the Kod Kod is nearly impossible.

 

After that we spent some time trying to spot a pygmy owl and hoped for more pudu sightings.  Neither showed themselves so it was off to bed.

The next morning we got up before daylight to try to get a spotting of the even rarer Darwin Fox.  We saw some fairly fresh scat but did not come across any fox out in the open.  We went back for breakfast and then Patricio drove us to a different trail that was really spectacular.  On the drive to the trail we startled another pudu in the road and caught a brief view as it scampered into cover.

 

  Then we walked back to the lodge after we finished that trail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RINGED KINGFISHER

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch and got our boat ride back to the car and made our way back to Castro.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by mapumbo

[janzin]

Wow, that forest looks incredible. On the itinerary I had originally planned...before we decided against this trip...we had three nights at that lodge, for birding and especially for searching for the Kod Kod and Darwin Fox. I didn't realize you had to get there by boat!

 

If/when we end up going I will definitely keep this part of the itinerary!

[mapumbo]

@janzin The forest was really special.  Pretty much untouched except for the few trails and roads that Patricio had built over the years.  We could have spent another night there.  I think we just barely scratched the surface of what there was to see.  The lodge itself is close to four star.  It is all inclusive.  You can stay at one of the two family cabins and do some of your own cooking.

Rafa said he was going back by himself for two weeks to find where the Darwin fox den was and where they are hanging out now.  A couple of years ago they spent more time around the lodge so you had a fair chance to see one.

Seeing a Kod Kod would be more of a challenge.  Rafa said he has only seen one 10 times in the past 20 years.   This place would certainly be the best shot at seeing one.

The boat ride is not a big issue.  When we arrived the wind was blowing pretty good, but we had no issues.  When we left the lake was like a mirror with blue skies.

 

[Atravelynn]

On 3/2/2019 at 5:03 PM, mapumbo said:

I know there are several here on Safaritalk who have mentioned their interest in Patagonia.  Everything that was organized for us by Swoop I would recommend.  There was no part of our trip that we weren't totally satisfied with.  I'm sure that one could organize everything on their own as well but we are not comfortable doing it that way.  I'm not driving around Patagonia on my own or with others either. You could certainly self drive everywhere we went and stay at hotels that were not all inclusive.

Thank you for following along.  And thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Alexander33]

What a fascinating trip. I, too, love mixing in cultural experiences with wildlife. The wooden interior of that church is just spectacular. Magellanic Woodpecker — now there’s a goal for me. I’ve always wanted to see one.  And well done on the otter!

[mapumbo]

First off, I need to make another correction....I called the river where we saw the river otter the Thepu River.  That was not correct.  I miss spelled it in my notes.  After looking at our itinerary I see it is the CHEPU RIVIER.

 

We headed back to Castro and to the same Palafito Waiwen where we stayed the first time.  On the way we stopped in the town of Chonchi.  They have another UNESCO wooden church that we visited.  The outside has been recently reconditioned.  The interior has stars painted on the ceiling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, this town is known for its traditional and historical house siding that are shingles, but each house has it's own distinct style of shingle.  We saw these shingles in other places but not as prominent as this city has preserved theirs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mapumbo]

Just now, Alexander33 said:

What a fascinating trip. I, too, love mixing in cultural experiences with wildlife. The wooden interior of that church is just spectacular. Magellanic Woodpecker — now there’s a goal for me. I’ve always wanted to see one.  And well done on the otter!

 

Yes, we kept patting ourselves on the back at how lucky we were on the endemic and rare species we were finding.  Partly luck, partly spending time looking and a big part having the great guide that we had in Rafa Di Biase.  The good part is that there is more to come.

[mapumbo]

When we returned to Castro and checked back into our room.  Rafa suggested we walk across the way and see if anyone is working at the wooden boat builders and check it out.

When we approached the work area, we could see that they were receiving a new delivery of different dimensions of lumber.  Rafa knocked on the office door and asked if it would be Okay if we looked around.  A young lady gave us permission.  This is a family operation with four generations carrying on the art of building all wooden boats by hand.

 

One young man was working on a boat caulking the flooring with tarred rope he had a mallet and punch driving the rope in the cracks of the flooring.  He stopped work and graciously answered all our questions.   They build 4 boats at a time.  They are all in different stages and different people have different skills so they each work on their particular portion of the process.  They currently were working on fishing boats and the one with the roof was to be a passenger boat.  The boats are primarily made out of cypress.  It takes 5 months to build an average size boat.  The big passenger boat will cost $150,000 American when it is fitted out with the motor and all the other mechanical things it would require. I didn't think that sounded like near enough for all the hand work involved.  Anyway, we really enjoyed this opportunity to get up close and ask questions of what is surely becoming a lost art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mapumbo]

Here are a few photos taken off the back deck of the Palafito where we were staying. The tables  are where breakfast is served in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

On 3/3/2019 at 12:03 AM, mapumbo said:

You could certainly self drive everywhere we went and stay at hotels that were not all inclusive.

 

Excellent start to a trip report from a country that is so very different to others. Above is probably the most interesting sentence I have read in it, for me anyway !

[Chakra]

Great report. Eagerly waiting for the Torres del Paine  section.  Just like @xelas  I also found that self drive option very encouraging. 

[xelas]

14 hours ago, Chakra said:

Great report. Eagerly waiting for the Torres del Paine  section.  Just like @xelas  I also found that self drive option very encouraging. 

 

Looks like we might join the efforts, and save some money?! Any plans for 2021, @Chakra??.

[kittykat23uk]

Also looking forward to that section of the report I have wanted to visit TDP myself for those pumas! 

[mapumbo]

We started out our last day on Chiloe island and our last day with Rafa by going to the central market in Castro.  We love markets.  They are always so colorful and it seems there is always some new item that we do not recognize.

 

 

THIS IS KELP THAT HAS BEEN DRIED. IT WILL BE USED IN COOKING BROTHS OR SOUPS.  ALSO IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT IS DRIED SEAWEED.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I BOUGHT SOME BLUEBERRIES, THEY WERE DELICIOUS.

 

 

We then stopped at one last UNESCO Wooden church.  It seems all the churches had their own personality as far as color scheme and altars.  But they all had the same basic architectural design with the wooden pillars down both sides of the center aisle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS A BOAT USED TO DIVE FOR ABALONE.  THEY USE THE AIR COMPRESSORS AND A COUPLE HUNDRED FEET OF HOSE FOR AIR WHEN THEY DIVE.

 

 

We stopped for lunch at one of the first agro-tourism farms established on the island.  They host groups for the traditional pit barbecue.   This feast is called a Curanto.  They throw red meat, seafood,  potatoes, sausage, and dumplings into a pit with hot rocks and seal it up with rhubarb leaves and dirt to cook.  The three of us did not partake in a Curanto but had a delicious meal of baked chicken, potatoes, lima beans and a sweet desert of rhubarb, all cooked on the wood stove by the Mother and her daughter and daughter-in-law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then got back on the ferry to cross over to the mainland.  Rafa dropped us off at Mero Gaucho in Puerto Varas for our overnight stay until we will take a  flight from Puerto Montt Airport the next day down to Punta Arenas in southern Patagonia.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Chiloe Island and to have been able to enjoy it with our guide Rafa Di Biase was even more of a privilege.  Rafa was not only a birder extraordinaire, but mixed in the right amount of culture and all the other wildlife and scenery that we appreciated.

 

FERRY BOAT

[mapumbo]

On February 13, we flew from Puerto Montt airport to Punta Arenas.  Punta Arenas is 7 hours south of Torres Del Paine Park.  Rafa was telling us that most flights end up going to Punta Arenas because they have somehow protected themselves by directing flights to their airport.  We flew on Sky Airlines.  When we flew back to Santiago at the end of the tour we were booked to fly from Puerto Natales.  It is only 2 hours drive from Torres Del Paine.  Puerto Natales evidently does not have the financial or political clout to receive all the incoming and outgoing flights to the park even though it is 5 hours closer.  We were probably fortunate to get a booking from Puerto Natales since we booked our tour on fairly short notice.

 

When landing at Punta Arenas we were met by a representative of EcoCamp and directed to their large van where 5 others were waiting for our arrival so we could all travel together to the camp.  A box lunch was on our seat waiting for us as well.  So once we settled in we were off to Torres Del Paine.  Leaving Punta Arenas we traveled through open plains, sheep and cattle ranching country.  The land reminded us of Western Colorado or Western Wyoming short grass prairie.  We saw massive flocks of sheep and large herds of really good quality cattle.

 

After 3 or 4 hours of travel we came to the town of Puerto Natales.  This is where EchoCamp has an office.  We stopped and did the formalities of checking into the camp at this office.  We needed to show our passport and the immigration receipt we received when we first landed in Santiago.  It took me a while to become oriented with where we were in the country of Chile.  We actually flew quite a ways south of Torres Del Paine and then traveled back north from Punta Arenas through Puerto Natales and then on north to the park and the EchoCamp.

 

When we left the EchoCamp office one of the guides rode with us.  Her name is Marcella.  She was a delightful person.  Full of energy and very helpful and knowledgeable about the park.  She mentioned to me on an excursion a couple days later how much she loves her job and working at the camp.

 

 

 

 

COSCOROBA SWAN, CHILEAN FLAMINGO, AND SHEEP IN THE BACKGROUND

 

 

OUR FIRST SIGHTING OF LESSER RHEAS

 

 

 

 

 

SOMEONE LOVES A GOOD TALL CUP OF COFFEE

 

 

 

OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE PATAGONIA MOUNTAINS

 

 

ANDEAN CONDOR

 

 

GUANACO

[mapumbo]

Driving closer to the park we got our first view of the Paine Towers.  Rather dramatic.  We had a nice sky to take photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came upon a juvenile group of rheas with their protective father.  Female rheas will lay their eggs in a community nest.  When the young hatch the male rhea takes over the care for them.  He will stay with them until they are full grown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHILEAN FLAMINGOS 

[mapumbo]

We arrived at the Torres Del Paine Park entrance.  We drove another 20 minutes to the Paine River bridge.  You cross out of the park onto a private ranch.  It is not far from the river to the EchoCamp.  This ranch was able to remain in private hands when the park was established.  The family that owns it is quite wealthy and has a lot of political power.  They are not able to run any livestock on the ranch but they are able to keep their horses for trail rides.  They also own and operated a nice hotel and the EchoCamp leases property from them to have their operation.  The EchoCamp guests and I think others are able to hike on this private land.

 

 

 

BRIDGE OVER THE PAINE RIVER.  WALK BRIDGE IN THE BACKGROUND

 

 

We arrived at the EchoCamp Dome lodge.  We were immediately shown to our dome since we had already checked in at the office in Puerto Natales.  We were assigned a Superior dome since that was all that was available for our dates when we booked.  They have what they call standard domes.  These are smaller since they do not have bathrooms in the dome.  You share a bathroom and shower with about a dozen others.  We were not sorry we had the superior dome.  These also have a wood stove and a propane stove in the bathroom.  There also are a few family domes that have two rooms, I believe.

 

The setting is really fantastic with a great view to the Paine Towers.

 

We had already ordered our meal for that evening when we checked in at Puerto Natales.  You have a couple choices of soup or salad.  Four choices of entree, and three yummy choices of desert.  The food is really top notch.  They have a breakfast buffet, and at that time you order what you want to have for the evening meal.  After breakfast you go to an area where you prepare your lunch bag for that day.  There are cold cuts, cheeses, different kinds of bread, some salad and vegetables.  They give you a bag of mixed nuts and a bar at breakfast to add to your lunch.

 

Before the evening meal.  You meet in a predetermined group and are presented, in really good detail, the 3 programs or excursions for the next day.  One they consider hard, usually a pretty long trek.  One they consider moderate, although most of them were fairly tough as well.  And one they consider easier.  We generally chose the easier one since we weren't interested in walking more than 6 or 7 miles.  All of the excursions last most of the day.  Some leave earlier in the morning if they are like the trek to the base of the towers.  We were satisfied with the excursions we took.  We were able to take our time and enjoy the scenery and wildlife.  The staff is really helpful and fun to be around.  They went out of their way to make sure you were informed and satisfied with everything.  It seemed they really worked well together and all loved their jobs.

 

 

 

 

OUR DOME #5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAIN LOUNGE AND BAR AREA

 

 

 

 

 

SUNSET ON THE PAINE TOWERS

[offshorebirder]

Stunning scenery and alluring Rheas @mapumbo.

 

My what a friendly Otter!

[xelas]

Like function does not work but I like all of your posts! The agriturismo kitchen looks inviting, and Curanto sounds like a feast one should not miss.

Torres del Paine ... far away but oh so photogenic!