“The mountains are calling and I must go”. ~ John Muir
Beautiful Andean Mountain countryside.A lovely sunny day traveling through what is known as the Chilean Patagonia. The Virgin Falls
Rio Simpson National Reserve, with a beautiful rugged landscape. We love our rhubarb from WI and John is standing next to it’s South American cousin, while not actually related to European rhubarb, it looks similar (though even larger) and tastes very much the same. Frank and Kathy I., I can’t say I know that it tastes the same as I didn’t get to try any. 🙁
Andean Condor
Pudu
The life expectancy for the Andean Condor is a very fulfilling 50 years. However, some have been known to live up to 75 in captivity. This age is only surpassed by its New World cousin, the California Condor, which has a life expectancy of 60 years in the wild. Although it is on average about 3 inches shorter from beak to tail than the California condor, the Andean condor is larger in wingspan, which ranges from 8 ft 10 in to 10 ft 6 in.
And Pudú are the world’s smallest deer.
These are the best photos I can capture as we zoom by. But a couple of interesting items. The tree is commonly called the monkey puzzle tree or Chilean pine and is an evergreen tree growing 3–5 ft in diameter and 100–130 ft in height. It is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina.
It is also the national tree of Chile. Its piñones, or seeds,are edible, similar to large pine nuts. Since the cones drop, harvesting is easy. The tree however, does not yield seeds until it is around 30-40 years old which discourages investment in planting orchards (although yields at maturity can be immense); once established, it can live possibly as long as 1000 years!!
The 210 m long President Ibáñez Bridge in the Aisén region of southern Chile is the country’s longest suspension bridge and has been declared a national memorial. Completed in 1966, the bridge crosses the Aisén River and is a historic monument for the architectural style that was typical for public construction projects during the 1960s.
In addition to the bridge, the attractive Monkey Puzzle tree is in the picture on the left edge.
