Chile & Easter Island Oct/Nov 2012 (1 Viewer)

[Mark Harper]

We want to do Easter Island 3 or 4 days and probably 10 days in Chile, with hindsight what are must do places and the ideal time to visit?
We have done Southern Argentina and Falklands Islands so happy to consider missing miss the far South .

For Easter Island seabirds February is the breeding season, when you could see upto 5 species of Pterodroma. I can thoroughly recommend Marc Sheilds as a guide and Te'Ora guesthouse, particularly the Te'Ora Ra'a room where you can seawatch from the comfort of your bed. Two full days is needed to see all the cultural sites, if you want to go out to the Moai then you need another half day to do this.

In central Chile I would not miss Altos de Lircay and the Enladrillado trail, but you need to be fit and take all day to do it. Punta de Tralca was a really beautiful spot, I had planned an hour there, as I thought my girlfriend would have had enough of seawatching by then, but she was happy to sit and enjoy the scenery and the birds passing really close. For spectacular scenery though Torres del Paine was hard to beat, but this will use up a good proportion of your 10 days, as it is around 5 - 6 hours drive from Punta Arenas.

As for timing I thought November was very good, weather was generally good and for visiting El Yeso any earlier and you risk the snow level being too low to get up there. The birds all seemed to be calling and not difficult to find, although Enrique Couve suggested that some birds can be harder to find than a month later, as they are already sitting on nests in November.

 

[dandsblair]

Thanks for the info

For Easter Island seabirds February is the breeding season, when you could see upto 5 species of Pterodroma. I can thoroughly recommend Marc Sheilds as a guide and Te'Ora guesthouse, particularly the Te'Ora Ra'a room where you can seawatch from the comfort of your bed. Two full days is needed to see all the cultural sites, if you want to go out to the Moai then you need another half day to do this.

In central Chile I would not miss Altos de Lircay and the Enladrillado trail, but you need to be fit and take all day to do it. Punta de Tralca was a really beautiful spot, I had planned an hour there, as I thought my girlfriend would have had enough of seawatching by then, but she was happy to sit and enjoy the scenery and the birds passing really close. For spectacular scenery though Torres del Paine was hard to beat, but this will use up a good proportion of your 10 days, as it is around 5 - 6 hours drive from Punta Arenas.

As for timing I thought November was very good, weather was generally good and for visiting El Yeso any earlier and you risk the snow level being too low to get up there. The birds all seemed to be calling and not difficult to find, although Enrique Couve suggested that some birds can be harder to find than a month later, as they are already sitting on nests in November.

Thanks for the info, will try to put it to good use in next 2 years

 

[James Lowther]

hi mark,
nice report, it brought back some good memories although this sentence "Arriving at the location for Diademed Sandpiper-Plover we quickly found the pair" brought back rather more painful ones as i dipped quite horribly at el yeso in october 2010, partly because it was a horrendously windy day, but also rock falls had closed the road near the dam and we had to walk the 16km round trip to the DSP site :-(

so i'd also recommend doing el yeso a bit later in the year when any problems with the road after the winter will have been sorted out hopefully.

cheers,
james

 

[Mark Harper]

hi mark,
nice report, it brought back some good memories although this sentence "Arriving at the location for Diademed Sandpiper-Plover we quickly found the pair" brought back rather more painful ones as i dipped quite horribly at el yeso in october 2010, partly because it was a horrendously windy day, but also rock falls had closed the road near the dam and we had to walk the 16km round trip to the DSP site :-(

so i'd also recommend doing el yeso a bit later in the year when any problems with the road after the winter will have been sorted out hopefully.

cheers,
james

It was a beautiful day when we visited, but your comment on wind is something worth mentioning for Patagonia, it is constantly windy in November

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Nice one Mark, look forward to reading this in depth when I get the chance, and appreciate the practical info you put into your reports. Defo want to fit in a trip like this sometime :t: