Friday March 6, 2020
Off to a bad start:
Caught a Bus-Sur at 7am at Puerto Natales, together with my guide SOL. Because my airline carry-on bag was to big to stow in the overhead parcel rack, I had to check it into the checked baggage in the hold of the bus.
En route to Punta Arenas, one of the side doors to the luggage storage under the floor of the passenger compartment apparently came open and the driver stopped when he was informed by a passenger and shut it. On arrival at our stop near Punta Arenas, the driver & staff couldn’t find the cary on bag - alas, it had been lost.
The driver of the van that we hired for the day agreed to travel back along the road (165 Km north) to look for the bag. Each of our party of 5 travellers were dropped off along the road and searched the bushes and gutters on the road around the location where the door was said to have come open but were unable to trace it.
Despite the bus company admitting liability many items of warm clothing in the bag would be essential for the rest of the trip: so I had to go shopping later in preparation for Antarctica.
Driving to the Park
Finally turned to the itinerary for the day and headed to the Park. We travelled along the Patagonian steppe and the landscape had amazing fauna.
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| Flamingos |
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| Sheep drive |
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| Caracara often steal prey from other birds |
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| Guanaco |
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| Andean Condor |
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| Swans |
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| Upland Geese |
The Pali-Aike National Park. Pali-Aike is a Tehuelche name that means Desolate Place. The park was created in 1970 and covers an area of 5,030 hectares (12,429 acres). It is located 196 km North West of Punta Arenas just next to the Argentine border.
The park draws its name from a prominent volcanic cone known as the Pali Aike Crater. Human crania from early prehistoric occupation have been recovered from this Pali Aike Crater site. It includes native flora and fauna, with some species being exclusive to the region and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The park has many rocky formations covered in lava that is thousands of years old.
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| My expert guide who prefers to be called Sol and her son Nicolas. |
The natural scenery - a landscape covered with lava and semi-desert vegetation having volcanic cones, natural caves, craters and walls, makes you feel that you are visiting a lunar place.
We visited different places, first the main tourist attraction, the Pali Aike Cave.
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| Pali Alke Cave where human remains of more than 10,000 years are found |
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| The peoples of this area called Aonikenk were a race of nomads and hunter-gatherers that survived until the 20th century. |
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| The Morada del Diablo crater |
There have been 3 periods of eruptions: the oldest 3-1 million years ago, the second 170 thousand years ago and formed the crater Pali Aike and the last 10 to 16 thousand years ago giving rise to the Morada del Diablo crater (Devil's dwelling).
The crater is accessed by a path from the car park and it can be viewed without the need for specialised equipment.
Along the path to the crater channels and the remains of lava tubes were evident
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| The crater just lies ahead |
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| Maralca was managing the path very well |
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| Shrubs survive in the environment. |
Enjoying the experience
Now we head back:
A unique excursion with a great group of fellow travellers
Travelling back to Punta Arenas, part of the highway is alongside the Straights of Magellan. There was also a gas pipeline providing a valuable resource for the region.
March 06, 2020
Tags :
Aonnikenk nomads
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Morada del Diablo
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Pali Aike
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