The Cactus Trip Diaries

Fully rested (well, Anne and I were – Alain again had difficulty with our snoring), we set off – in thick fog (again!) for Chañaral. In 2003, on the way south, we had left Copiapó in a thick fog that had stayed with us all the way to Vallenar.

This time the fog lifted just before 10:00 and we made two stops along Ruta 5 (S222 and S223), not prompted by cacti, but by a sight we had not seen on our previous trips – a sight that must have inspired Jimi Hendrix to write ‘Purple Haze’. Large patches of normally barren desert were covered by a blanket of flowers. The cause was a small rosette of rather succulent looking leaves, a short thin stem and a small purple flower on top – I believe Calandrinia longiscapa. It grew here in millions! Also in flowers were a lily (common name Añañuca amarilla – botanical name Rhodophiala bagnoldii) and a daisy-like flower, Encelia canescens – if the ‘Chilean Flora For Tourists’ type books that I bought at the airport on the way home, are to be believed. This last plant is very similar to Rudbeckia, a plant found in European gardens but that is endemic to North America.  It was only the third day into our trip and already I had taken more pictures of non succulent plants than in total during the four week trip in 2003!

I took a GPS reading (S224) to mark the turning off Ruta 5 to Barranquillas, a track that we would explore further on the way back. The track looked to lead into the wide, flat valley of the Rio Copiapó. A green line of trees and shrubs indicated where the river provides some water, but otherwise the area looked rather bleak and barren. Two weeks later, when we travel down this track, we were to find a huge surprise!

Past Caldera, we repeated two more stops from previous visits (S225 and S226). At S225, I wanted to check out something that had bothered me since the 2003 trip – how uniform are the populations of Copiapoa calderana here? Not very, when considering spine and epidermis colour. We also found the local Eulychnia in bud – very woolly – and some of the ‘goat-dropping look-alike’ Eriosyce : E. odieri ssp krausi – well done Anne, for spotting these ‘invisible’ plants.

We booked into Hosteria Chañaral for the night (more to confirm that the service here remains sub-standard than for any other reason), sent messages home from the internet cafe in town and did some shopping at the local supermarket as the next night would be spent in tents near Esmeralda. As we walked home, it seemed that we were joined by a Chilean chap. As I stopped to take pictures, he stopped too. When we walked on, so did he. ‘Have you seen that?’ I asked Alain, ‘It is as though he is following us!’  ‘I hope so,’ Alain replied, ‘he’s carrying our shopping!’ 

Tomorrow we enter Pan de Azucar.

Today was due to be another ‘driving day’, some 460 km along Ruta 5.

A few km north of Pichdangui, at Totoralillo, we made our second stop in 2001 S002), and again in 2003 (S109) and I wanted to check up on how this location had survived (S218 this time). Like most of the Pacific Ocean coast, huge stretches are lost to tourism with anything from beach huts to large complexes complete with golf courses popping up like mushrooms on a British autumn lawn.

It is easy to feel sad about the loss of cactus habitats through such developments, but I guess that at the same time we should feel happy for the Chileans as the standard of living appears to have dramatically improved for large numbers of people as a result of this and other (agriculture and mining) developments.
We should also recognise the tremendous improvements made to the roads, so that ‘cactus exploring / tourism’ becomes a much easier option, open to many more people, like ourselves, rather than to a few intrepid individuals not afraid to endure some discomfort and risk to see what we now take for granted.

We were struck by how many more flowers (wild flowers rather than cacti in flower) were on display than on earlier visits. It was great to see many ‘old friends’, cacti that I had photographed on previous occasions so that I could check their progress – just as I would do with plants in my collection back home.

Our second stop of the day was at the petrol station at Termas de Socos (S219), another stop from 2003. So was this just a nostalgic trip of previous cactus stops? Not at all. But in our rush to get to Copiapoa Country it is necessary to drive significant stretches along the Panamericana, while the need for comfort breaks and refuelling bodies and cars continues, and petrol stations are few and far between in this part of the world. And while we stretch our legs, we might as well point our cameras at any interesting plants.

Unfortunately the crested head on one of the Echinopsis (Trichocereus) chiloensis that we had seen last year had died and was hanging limply from the surviving base of the stem.

The remaining two stops before reaching Vallenar were again repeats of previous trips: S220 was at a lay-by on Ruta 5, just north of La Serena and S221 at Ruta 5, just south of Los Hornos, where I introduced Alain to his first Copiapoa (C. coquimbana).

Finding suitable accommodation in Vallenar can be a bit difficult, but we were happily surprised to see a new hotel, Hotel Takia, with the wonderful address of Prat 600. In fact, it was so new that we appeared to be the first guests – the wrappers were still on the beds. The owner spoke good English – another plus point, as my ‘Spenglish’ (a Brian Bates term) is basic in the extreme.

We had hoped to reach La Serena on the first day, a 474 km journey along Ruta 5, the Pan-American Highway. We decided to start the drive, but as we approached Pichidangui, the location of our last stop in 2001 and of our first and last stop in 2003, the eyes became tired and the thought of another return visit became a great temptation.

Soon we were booked into a new cabana and on our way to the seaside to check on the state of the plants. Building development, inspired by tourism, had progressed at pace but ‘our’ plants were safe (S217 = S107 in 2001 and S108 and S216 in 2003). In the past, Eriosyce subgibbosa had been in full flower, while a significant number of similar looking plants had not been. According to Kattermann, these were Eriosyce chilensis var. albidiflora that has a different flower and flowers at a different time (based on our observations E. albidiflora flowers in October rather than May / June).  The other Eriosyce found here, E. curvispina, was in bud, as were Echinopsis litoralis and Eulychnia castanea. This promised to be a treat to look forward to when we are due to return here on the way home, three weeks later.

There is no point in counting the hours since we had last had a good night’s rest, so after the usual local fish dish, washed down with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon for Anne and I, beer for Alain, we retired to the cabañas for a good night sleep, at least for Anne and I, as Alain discovered that the rumours were true – that my snoring resembles the noise made by thousands of mechanical saws cutting down rain forests.

From 1 to 24 October 2004, some of us returned for Copiapoathon 2004 and again, daily reports were sent to two email forums: cacti_etc and to cactus_study.

So why the ‘Unfinished Business Tour’? I try to have my next trip to (any) cactus country planned before the wheels of the plane taking me home touch down on home soil. At the end of Copiapoathon 2003, we had plans to visit the Big Bend area in Texas, USA, to see Ariocarpus fissuratus in flower during October.  Many of the 2003 Copiapoathoners are making this trip as I prepare these reports and hopefully will file their reports on their return. But two of us – Benjy Oliver and myself – found the lure of Chile in Spring stronger than the USA in Autumn. And so I proposed our trip, around places that I some how missed out on in the past or had learned of since:

• Copiapoa tocopillana, south of Tocopilla

• Copiapoa atacamensis and Eulychinia morromorenoensis, from near Antofagasta

• Copiapoa varispinata from the Izcugña Valley

• The newly described Copiapoa humilis ssp australis from Huasco

• The notoriously difficult to find Euphorbia copiapina

We succeeded on a number of these, but failed on others, leaving us a good excuse for a future Copiapoathon, (The Angie’s Birthday Tour) pencilled in for 2007. At the same time we saw so much more that was not planned, that we came home very satisfied with another great Chilean experience.

Anne Adams (Copiapoathon 2003) and Alain Buffel, from Oostende – Belgium were also keen to come along this time. Due to a medical problem, Benjy called me at noon on the day of departure to say that he would not be able to come along. We’ve spoken since our return and, fortunately, he feels much better.

Top left to right: Bart Hensel, Anne Adams, Alain Buffel
Bottom row: Paul Klaassen, Marijke Hensel at S307

Our flight was due to depart at 19:00 hrs from Terminal 2, London – Heathrow Airport, but I’m always restless on the day of take off, so had asked my partner and one of last year’s Copiapoathoners, Angie Money to pick me up at 1 p.m.  Around noon, I had a phone call from one of the 2004 crew – Benjy Oliver (also a 2001 and 2003 Copiapoathoner) to say that a medical problem prevented him from coming along – quite a blow for both of us at this late moment, as I know how much he had looked forward to this trip and had contributed much to the planning. We’ve spoken since my return and he is fine – just sorry to have missed out.

So it was just Anne and I that flew from Heathrow to Frankfurt – yes, seemingly in the ‘wrong’ direction – to meet up with Alain who had also managed to arrive on time, despite industrial disputes at Brussels Airport. The only thing to report on the flight from Frankfurt to Aeropuerto Internacional Arturo Merino Benitez at Pudahuel – with refuelling at Buenos Aires, is that it takes a long time (some 16 hours) to fly the 7,545 km and that the views out of the window during the last 30 minutes, as we crossed the Andes,  were again breath-taking.

After the long flight, we looked forward to taking control of our own transport, but alas, on arrival at Santiago Airport, our rented Toyota Hilux 4×4 (or the rep from the rental company) was nowhere to be seen. We were soon surrounded by a couple of dozen reps from alternative rental companies, all promising us the best deal ever on what ever car we wanted. Tired from such long flights, one is rather vulnerable – a fact realised by the airport police who soon intervened and dispersed all but the most persistent reps. That final problem was soon resolved by a sergeant from the security police, well armed, but with a personality that made it unnecessary to even suggest that he needed to use them.

A phone call revealed an oversight on the part of the rental company that was however quickly resolved by a rep picking us up and taking us to the garage where our car was ready and waiting. So, some three hours later than planned, we finally started our journey north.

Technically, it  is now 2 October, so I have strayed into tomorrow’s report, but it seems logical to keep the ‘getting there’ section as one.