Cochrane & Caleta Tortel, Chile

We stayed in a riverside cabana in Cochrane, with this view –

I think the Southern Lapwings are beautiful birds, but they have a loud raucous call that served as our wake-up call each morning (and they even sounded off at night sometimes too) –

We went hiking (no…really?!) just outside of town in Tamango National Reserve, hoping to see the elusive Huemul deer. These are an endangered species that live in the southern Andes.  We never did see any, but the hike started beautifully along the Cochrane River…

… and alternated between rocky outcroppings…

… and lush forest…

 … where we found Fuschia.  This was a plant I grew in hanging pots on front porches in the Midwest, but that we found growing wild in Chilean Patagonia in moist climates.

As we climbed higher, we were treated to far off mountains -

I found another orchid!  The Porcelain Orchid -

The combo of the snow-capped mountains and the deep blue of the river was just magnificent –

This river was just amazingly clear and so blue -

We looked down at the end of the hike and were gob-smacked:

Just before the river emptied into the lake, it formed this blue pool –

I loved the look of this plant.  It looks like a fern, but the stalks are firm and fairly thick –

Doesn’t this look like petrified wood?  I sure thought it did, but Steve wasn’t so sure.  It was underfoot on a lot of the trail.

OK.. so now we head a little SW to visit a unique town, Caleta Tortel. It was a rainy day, and there were swollen rivers along the way –

There are no roads in town, just boardwalks (of cypress – it doesn’t rot very easily).

You parked your car in a general parking area, and walked to your house or hotel.  In our case, we walked about ½ mile, in the rain (carrying only small backpacks for our 1 night stay)…

… and it rains a lot there.  There are lots of ferns…

… that are massive.

Remember what I said about Fuschia and moist climates?

They were everywhere….

… and in interesting color variations –

The sun broke free and the rain stopped for a short time in the afternoon…

… so we went out for a (short) walk before the rain started again.

This is what an area between houses looked like –

I thought this was a pretty flower, but I haven’t been able to find out what it is –

I’ll jump back to our river cabana in Cochrane to close.  Lupines are totally lining the roads now, and filling fields.  This small field, with all the colors represented, backed by stately pines says it all.