We spent one morning exploring the town of Puerto Natales. It has a delightful little marina and one very wide street leading down to the marina. This dates back to the days when sheep was a major industry in the area. The street was wide so the ranchers could easily herd their sheep to market.
Our afternoon outing turned up some interesting animals. Shown here is a Chilean Flicker, a fire eyed diucon, an American kestrel, a spectacled duck, and a red fox.
As we watched the sun set over a fjord on our last evening in Patagonia, we stopped to do a little bit of fishing. Robin managed to catch a rather large brown trout. It was a nice way to end our stay in Patagonia.
Santiago is a very large city. It was a big change from the landscape we had enjoyed in Patagonia. We stayed at the NOI Hotel.
Castillo Hildago is a fortress built by the Spanish governor in 1826 as a means to protect the city. After 1874, the building became a museum and library. There were lovely views from the top and beautiful gardens in the courtyards. We managed to see a red collared sparrow and a creamy-bellied thrush.
Our city tour took us past some interesting historic old buildings. Many stood next door to modern glass highrises. The city was a delightful mixture of old and new.
Our tour included La Moneda (Chile's White House), the financial district and the Santiago stock exchange, the metropolitan cathedral of Santiago, and a sculpture in honor of Chile's Mapuche peoples that was in the Plaza de Armas.
Easter Island was our next stop. We ended up in the Hangaora Lodge.
Easter island is lush and green with beautiful ocean views and almost 900 moai statues.
Rano Kau is an extinct volcano. The crater collapsed to form a caldera that is almost a mile across. A fresh water lake has formed in the caldera.
The outside of the caldera forms a steep cliff on one side. The native Rapa Nui peoples used to have a Birdman competition in this location. Men would climb down this cliff, swim across shark infested waters to a small nearby island, find an egg from a tern's nest, and carry it back to the top of the caldera without breaking the egg.
