The 3D lab

The other side of the peninsula

Posted on November 15, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

On our devoted search for field sites, we decided to cross the peninsula and approach the mountains from the other side. We would not be too far away from our other sides, but it would be a long drive on gravel roads to get around them.

Luckily, we had the beauty of the Patagonian nature to save us from a boring trip. I could never imagine that a country could have so many birds of prey packed so close together. Every hundred meters, another one flew up from a pole or showed its marvelous acrobatic tricks in the air. In between, large amounts of majestic geese, beautifully coloured ducks and on the horizon even two pink dots that seemed to be flamingos. The further we got, the better the view…

The other side - geese

As soon as we crossed the inland, a splendid view on the bay unfolded before our eyes. In the far north, we could see the snowy peaks of Isla Riesco, the southernmost part of the Chilean Andes. The waves, guided by strong southern winds, crashed on the shore and giant black petrels floated above the shoreline. The cows, horses and sheep that were regularly startled by our passing car warned us that this was no true wild nature, but we won’t easily find any better in Europe.

The very moment we thought to be as far away from civilization as possible, the happy face of another candidate for the upcoming elections smiled at us from the trunk of a dead tree, right before a typical Chilean farmer approached us on his horse, eager to help us on our hunt for accessible mountains. At least the Chilean landscape makes you forget itif the fieldwork brings you bad luck.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Animals, Birds, Isla Riesco, Patagonia, Subantarctic | 1 Comment

Apologies to a city – the dogs

Posted on November 15, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

I have been unnecessarily rude against the city of Punta Arenas (see my previous post ‘… and the ugly’, but I’m making up for it). If the dogs would know I’d been so rude, they would look at me with their sad devoted eyes and make me feel really sorry about it. They have the right to look sad, because they put in a lot of trouble to make you feel at home. Every time they see a tourist, they immediately jump into action and hold you company for the rest of your walk. They don’t need anything in return, they don’t ask any questions, they just give you the comfort of a friend and guide on your walk through the city. The dogs2

I know, I know, they’re only street-dogs and the only thing they want is something to eat, which they hope to get from you, but still I like it when they put in the effort of walking with me on the dike. Unfortunately, I had no food to pay for their unasked company. That is why I decided to give them a blog post to honor their indefatigable work.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Animals, Punta Arenas, Subantarctic | 3 Comments

Apologies to a city – the dike

Posted on November 13, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

The dike2

I have been unnecessarily rude to the city of Punta Arenas (see my previous post ‘… and the ugly’). I did not realize that all I needed was a warm and sunny day and a leisure walk along the beach to experience the hidden beauty of this city. That’s why I decided to write a couple of posts about this rough diamond of the south.

I used a free afternoon on a day with low(er) wind speed and a bright blue sky to stroll over the dike. People were happy, young couples were enjoying the view (on each other) and the Estrecho de Magallanes (Strait of Magellan) showed an undiscribable blue color.

Although there isn’t a real beach, the dike is nice and open, with blue outlines of the mountains of Tierra del Fuego on the horizon. The city is proud of the connection with the sea. As you can see from all kinds of modern statues of ships that brighten up the dike. The dike1 - statue When the weather is nice, the dike of Punta Arenas is definitely a nice place to be. Enjoy the view on the quarreling cormorants and wonder about the story behind the strange concrete structures, as long as the wind does not chase you away to a better place. The dike4 - cormorants These are my sincere apologies to a city that just needed a bit of time and the correct weather conditions to show her hidden beauty. The dike3

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Punta Arenas, Strait of Magellan, Subantarctic | 3 Comments

Bad luck

Posted on November 12, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

As a field ecologist work isn’t always easy. Unlike a stay-at-home-scientists who cultivates seedlings in his greenhouses, we can’t predict what our experiment will look like. You start on paper creating a nice and elegant research design that takes into account as many factors as you can possibly imagine, but still experience shows that no research design ever matches the final output.

It is called ‘bad luck’ and it’s as closely linked to the job as the studied plants themselves. As you could see in the post ‘the good…’ we visited this beautiful breath-taking mountain at the end of the american continent. We had a nice several hours climb up to the highest point where the view took our breath away. But then we realized that the vegetation on top was not at all suitable for the experiment.

It is bad luck, because we climbed all the way up. Being unable to use the mountain means that we lost a day and that we should try to find another mountain. However, finding mountains in Chile is not an easy process. Mainly because almost all roads at the tops are privately owned and in bad condition after the snow melt in early spring.

Some advanced networking with local landowners did not yet pay off. We still need to find a third mountain that fits all the requirements of our experimental design. If not, we’ll need to be really creative. Luckily, creativity is one of the main qualities of a field ecologist.

Bad luck it is, but we are used to it and you would be a sad ecologist if you would let it ruin the day. We decided not to care and enjoyed our awesome hike in the mountain. You never give up, because there are always possibilities. If the car can’t cross the rivers that ruin the road you can always continu on foot…

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Experiment, Science, Subantarctic | 6 Comments

The good…

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Chili is a land of extremes. The places where people could have their way with the environment are mostly awful, but as soon as you get away from the bad influences of the cities, environment improve a lot.

We drove all the way south from Punta Arenas, along a road that slowly changed from an ugly city highway to an exciting 4×4-track along the coast. While increasing distance to the city, the landscape evolved fromthe typical suburbs over agriculture-orientated to an exciting evergreen forest next to the coast.

The good1 We had to leave our car were road conditions got too bad and continue on foot. Wandering along the beach next to the blue and calm ocean. Birds were singing in the trees, the forest looked tropical and the sun was surprisingly warm. No summer resort in the Caribbean could give you any better.

We left the beautiful bay behind to explore the mountains, with a small path through forests and peat bogs. The view opened up to show a beautiful snow-covered mountain on the horizon while we slowly got higher and higher. Our efforts were rewarded with a fantastic view of the most southern point of the American continent and the blue outlines of Tierra del Fuego and the Isle of Santa Maria on the other site of the Street of Magellana.

The mighty views of Patagonia, they’re worth all the efforts. The good4

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Mountains, Subantarctic | 4 Comments

…the bad…

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Chili is a land of extremes. Even this far south, human influence succeeded in ruining whole ecosystems. Here, the funny thing is that nobody bothered to clean up the mess. In the whole area around Punta Arenas, all evergreen native forests are burned and cut to create short grass meadows for grazing cattle. Strangely, the remaining trunks of the burned trees are left in the fields creating a spooky cemetery of nature. As far as the eyes can see, they stick out of the ground as a sad reminder of how this place once looked.

The bad3 The result is a strange but attractive landscape that highlights the true human power to create and destroy. Showing something that gets you thinking.