It's 1386 miles from Santiago and takes about four and a
half hours by plane (or about a week by road!)
The
Andes form a dramatic backdrop to our flight which gives us spectacular
views of volcanoes, glaciers, Icefields and corries. A geography teacher's
dream! Mavis was our very own geography teacher and she was almost hanging
out of the window in excitement! The map here shows the area to which we
flew. It is the bottom of the pointy bit of South America! (Click to
enlarge)
A few examples here. We were so lucky to
have clear, cloudless skies.
I believe this was Osorno; more of that later.
Our coach takes us through crystal clear
scenery past bright, colourful houses.
The roads are rarely metalled. They are,
however well maintained gravel which allows reasonable progress speeds. I
wouldn't want to be a cyclist hereabouts though.
Here's a clue to what came next on the
itinerary. We are approaching the penguin colony at Otway Sound.
and here is the object of our two hour trip.
The Magellanic or Jackass penguins.
This 'old chap' has a long walk down to the 'fish shop.'
Penguins don't fly, of course, but there is
much in the way to keep the ornithologically minded motivated.
Rufous-collared sparrows...
A pair of upland geese in flight.
Later, we have a 5 minute photo stop to take
a look at a young condor.
The view is across the Magellan Straits to
Tiera del Fuego: Land of Fire.
You can see how clear the air was. We're
just 500 miles from Antarctica.
