Pixiq

Having already worked in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, I left the UK with Martin at the end of November eager to explore Chile for the first time. We were not disappointed. Chile was my last 2011 location for gleaning shots of intriguing plants and their pollinators for my long-term work in progress.

Greentours who run many plant-orientated and natural history tours all over the world, arranged this trip. Starting from Santiago, our stalwart guide, Chris Gardner, drove some 4,000 miles in total; initially northwards almost to La Serena and then to just south of Puerto Montt.  For the final leg we flew south to Punta Arenas to drive up to Torres del Paine National Park within Chilean Patagonia. Every day, Chris led us to my target plants, plus many more. We were able to work long days in the Chilean late spring and by not booking our accommodation in advance this meant we could be more flexible about staying put in a rich area, or moving on from a less productive one. This gave us time to explore a valley on the Chilean / Argentinean border up to the snowline. On the way up, a cacophony of tens of thousands of recently hatched chirping cicadas greeted us as we stepped out of the 4WD.

The range of flowers was spectacular with many white, yellow and orange ground orchids, while the flowering spikes of some puyas reach several metres in height – some sport bare tipped flowering branches that provide convenient perches for foraging birds to feed on the nectar.

Alstroemerias grow as if weeds alongside roadside verges and an assortment of cacti thrive on dry ground. Whenever we climbed onto higher ground, snow-capped volcanoes were rarely out of sight.

Overall, it was a veritable delight for any wildlife enthusiast. Although primarily a botanical trip, we paused to photograph rheas (South American flightless birds that fill a similar niche to ostriches in Africa) and spent many hours observing large herds of guanacos which are related to camels. The worst problem was the dust, which coated everything when travelling on the unmade tracks; so cameras and lenses had to be wiped down before lenses were changed. Here is a small selection of images, which won't be appearing in my book.