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The morning light is, of course, different and no less
magical. The Patagonia National park is tantalisingly close across the
water, but will take several hours by road. |
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The trouble with being in a photography club is that you
are always on the lookout for getting that 'perfect' shot for a competition.
I like the lead in to the picture provided by these old stumps. |
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Jean and I take an early walk around the
town, starting with the water frontage. |
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'Heads down girls' or 'looking for
breakfast'. |
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These fishermen were very aware that I was pointing a
long lens at them. Paparazzi or what? |
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This is one of my favourites. |
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So many photographic possibilities. |
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The town is certainly not short of colour.
I also spotted the first sets of traffic
lights in several hundred kilometres of driving! |
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Clearly, yellow and green paint are easily available. |
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Our first touristy stop is 30 minutes north
of Puerto Natales.
We are at the 'Cueva del Miladon'. The cave
of the Miladon, an extinct animal that used to be the BIG kid on the
Patagonian block. |
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Whilst we were getting the pre amble to the
cave, I was taking advantage of the red foreground to the mountains. |
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Same mountains, different foreground. The guide book
tells of the different examples of flora and fauna: spotted Lenga, Coigüe
and Nirre forests; bushes such as Leńadura, Chaura, Ciruelilo, Calafate,
Michay, Siete camisa, Murtilla, Romemerillo, Senecios and herbs like Chilco,
Orchid and Capachito. |
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Looking the other way... |
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Jorje explains the history and archaeology
of the cave and its surrounds. It is
an example of a lutita rocky stratum decomposition process under the
conglomerate level, which was the result of water seepage from a great lake.
The lake was formed when the glaciers melted. |
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Now, we're inside, and you can sense the
size of this cave. The cave has changed little in the last 12,000 years. |
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It is HUGE! Well, 30 metres high, 80 metres wide and 200
metres deep to be precise. Fauna in the area
include: Culpeo Fox, Grey fox, Puma, Mountain Lion, Little Grison, Skunk,
wild bat, (are there any tame ones?) and some foreign species such as hare
and rabbit. |
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Here I am in the grip of a Miladon. What a scary duo.
The Miladon was an edenate herbivore mammal with a
plantigrade walk. (it says here) Its massive claws would have helped it find
roots which were part of its diet.
Its remains were found on different levels within the cave
which would have been its home until the first primitive hunters came along
and displaced it. |
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We're on the road again, but the site of a
Condor wheeling overhead causes a Japanese photo stop. (that's supposed to
be five minutes but usually ends up being twenty). |
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Our first tantalising glimpses of Torres del
Paine. |
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