We jumped on to a small flight and headed south (oh boy do I love a small plane). Arriving in Chaitén we drove directly to Pumalin Park to hike along the Ranita de Darwin Trail where the famed Darwin frog lives (sadly none were found). The rain continued intermittently on our hike but we did catch brief views of El Amarillo area. But the fungus among us….
After leaving Pumalin NP – which is one of Chile’s largest and most biodiverse parks of over 1,150 sq miles of temperate rain forest we headed to our next stop Caleta Gonzalo, a hobbit like place with very low ceiling cabins situated right on the fjord and adjacent to the ferry terminal. But first we had to experience our first “road under repair” (for the last 30 years)! Sadly I cannot load a video here, but believe me it was epic considering we passed cyclists, motorcycles, buses and loaded semis on this road!
Part of our experience here is to work with the Tompkin’s Foundation now called Re-wilding Chile. Our group donated to Re-wilding two camera traps that will be used to monitor species like the native pudú (the world’s smallest deer) or amphibians which are great indicators of climate health. As we handed over the donation and waved good by to Maria the director of Chile’s NP we were thrilled to see the weather clearing in the fjord
Tomorrow looks like it might be a good day for our hike! Finally!!!
Rambling PA's 
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