The first day of fieldwork was long and intense, but nothing less than a success. It was a relief to find back our plots where we had left them behind 4 months ago. It was an even  bigger relief to see some tiny seedlings sprouting everywhere between the late summer vegetation. And than I did not even mention the feeling when you finally find your tiny, coin-sized temperature sensors more than ten thousand kilometers away from home!

Of course, no mountain ecology without adventures! We had to drive up the jeep on a crazy bumpy mountain road, speckled with puddles that where almost to deep to cross and every now and then blocked with fallen trees. All day, we had to fight rain and howling winds and protect our instruments against the elements. Luckily, an almost permanent rainbow watched kindly over our efforts. We saw it as a good sign for our field campaign, with the unspoken promise that our adventures would all be surmountable.

We asked the rainbow for some wildlife, and it seemed to have listened, because we found a wild puma! Or wait, a fierce look in your cute eyes is maybe not enough to make you one…

To conclude this first day: working with a splendid view on the street of Magellan, there are less exciting jobs!

Greetings from Chile from the team!