Up at 4am - it's a hazard of travelling at this time of year as the sun rises at 5.10 and sets at 10pm ish - and it's still light at 11pm. We set off at 0430 in the minibus to a location about 10 minutes from the hotel where we got some amazing photographs experimenting with the light. I also used my wide angle lens which I rarely do as I am interested in photographing wild life. I must say my eyes were opened to the value of wide angle for landscapes! Via insisted we go to the manual setting and play with the different settings - a good idea - if initially hard. John the novice, and always looking to reduce weight had removed two things from the camera bag - hardly an ounce between them - but they were the flash and more importantly the view finder! So he had to spend the next 4 days with his arms stretched out in front of him, and with his glasses going darker with the increase in light it was not easy trying to take photos and do as he was told! He won't forget the view finder again!!
We returned to the lodge at 7.15 and had breakfast overlooking the magnificent Lake Sarmiento and the mountains of the Torres del Paine national park beyond - it was still very windy - we now know this is the windy season with gusts up to 100km per hour and beyond.
At 9.15 we headed of towards Lake Azul passing Bitter Lake enroute where we stopped and took some lovely landscapes. We also stopped and photographed herds of guanacos - lots going on as this is the season of giving birth,so there were lots of new borns called chelengos?, and it's also the season of mating hence there is lots of male posturing, fighting and trying to usurp another one in the act of mating from his position - all making for good watching. There were also groups of lesser rheas or Nandus - it was usually dad with 10-12 stripy chicks pecking their way through the grasses.
At Pia's instigation, and because guanacos are curious animals we went and lay down in the middle of a field and low and behold they did come close to see what these funny humans were in their midst - they were also no doubt interested by Jorge's snoring as he took relaxed to the next level. We were also joined by some black faced ibis who flew in and started feeding in the grasses.
Next stop was on the edge of Lake Azul - we walked round to a hut - will Jorge and Guidot ( the driver) sorted out lunch. As we crossed a marshy area with a long stretch of shallow water - we watched coots, silvery grebe, lapwings, crested ducks and avocets swimming around and all became agitated when a lovely fox ran up and down the bank - rightly so as it eventually ran off with an egg in its mouth - by the reaction of the lapwings I think it was one of theirs. Pia had been here a day or so before and seen the fix with cubs which we think had been moved from the original den site as after lunch we saw the fox sleeping by a big thicket.
Lunch was a lovely salad and eating in the hut we were protected from the wind - I have never been somewhere before where although it's warm there is a real chill in the air - you need a jacket even though it's warm ish!
After lunch we had half an hour of fun deciding if a distant pale brown object John had spotted was a rock or a puma - we plumped for rock but who knows and it was too far to find out.
As the weather was still lovely we walked back by the lake and took pictures of the famous towers with lupins in the foreground. As we continued we watched mor guanacos rolling in a dust bath, fighting, mating and jumping fences with ease. As we sat there a herd of horses ( used by the rangers)came down to drink - they clearly knew Via loved horses and had a studio for photographing them as they went to her and interacted in a lovely calm respectful way.
We then headed back to the hotel passing some red billed swans enroute.
Before dinner we reviewed our photographs - and got some tips and hints for tomorrow -my first day total was 1200+ so I have a little sorting out to do!
(Today's photo is male guanacos spiring while we lay in a field watching them.)