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Lost Sunglasses And A Crab Threw Up On Me – 6/09/17



With a 6:30am wake up and freezing weather conditions outside it was safe to say that I looked 4 times my size if not more, due to the amount of layers I put on to try and keep warm. From this point on, I made my way over to the small dining area and grabbed myself possibly the worlds tiniest bowl and filled it with as much cereal as it could hold (… not very much in case you were wondering). Breakfast was made complete with a nice mug of piping hot tea, which allowed me to warm up too!



Once the joys of breakfast were over, we made it to our research camp about a 30 minute drive away, where we officially began our overseas field course.  Our research base was located just a little bit away from the Pacific ocean and just below the extremely tall hills providing the most impeccable environment to work in.



Once settled, the work began. Step 1, the health and safety talk which was then followed by the mention of an ID test and the preparation needed for it. This was then followed by our very first lecture of the module on the flora of Chile, specifically that native to Atacama. After this we had a small break to let our mind rest and went exploring around our base that we would be working at for the next 2 weeks. It wasn’t long before a lizard was spotted, a Liolaemus nigromaculatis which was then followed by another this time a Chilean Iguana, Callopistes maculatus. During this time you couldn’t help feel how odd it is to be in the worlds supposed driest place and be surrounded by a sea of varying colours and plants around you. It almost doesn’t seem real. As when you think desert you normally think cactus and sand, right? Anyway, after our break we headed back to the ‘Dome’ (our main base for gatherings) and continued with the second lecture this time about the Fauna in Chile, specifically that of birds. It was incredible to see that the Atacama Desert has such diversity in animal life when before I thought it was almost barren.

 


After a quick light lunch that consisted of a sandwich, fruit and a super sweet filo pastry layed caramel cake from which im certain I got a sugar high we headed out to see what fauna and flora we could spot with the end goal being the immaculate white sanded beach as the temperatures soared up. It wasn’t very long until the first species was spotted, an Ibis, Theristicus melanopis. It didn’t stop here though, Rufous collared sparrows, Zonontrichia capensis, Sierra finches, Phygilus patagonicus, Vultures, Cathartes aura, Comorants, Phalacrocorax, Whimbrels, Numenius phaeopus, Sand pipers, Scolopacidae, kelp gulls, Larus dominicanus and burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia were all also spotted along with many others! The list would be way too long if I kept going! The most interesting thing that occurred once we reached the beach was that a female crab carrying hundreds of eggs was caught and as I was holding her she started to produce what at first looked like bubbles before
realising that this was a smelly sort of liquid used to deter predators. It was also at this point where my key bit of kit; in the form of sunglasses fell in to the sea… its not like I needed then in perhaps the sunniest place on earth…



Finally, to end the day, our group set off on a small ½ hour hike around the higher region surrounding our base. Here is where we saw our first guanaco! A llama type animal native to Atacama. From this day it became clear that I was going to love this place.

 




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