Every i phone has its day

The Saturday mountain road(s) were surging with 4 wheel drive vehicles et al in a hurry to make the most of the stunning weather and whatever this centro touristico (something like that) has to offer - fortunately we've had total peace and quiet and were heading in the opposite direction, towards Santiago (compass willing). Loitering along the road, reluctant to face the city, we had really good views of two Black-chested Buzzard-Eagles (stubby wings and stumpy tail). As I have the superior binoculars it means that there can be a bit of a tussle for them if the bird(s) is particularly hot - these were not particularly.

I haven't mentioned the showers in this part of the world yet - you know, the ones in bathrooms. In the same way that I'm interested in carcasses (mentioned in last blog), I also take an interest in the plumbing of the world (similar sort of thing to birds of the world). Not long ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to catalogue (by photographing) some unique examples of toilets, from South Africa to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), on a camping trip - showers didn't have the same appeal, as they don't here really. I had forgotten (from past experience) that hot and cold water don't mix too well in this part of the world. This morning, the Heidi log cabin was reminiscent of 'boot camp' due to the wood burner having gone out (burnt finger on it yesterday) and due to non-mixing of hot and cold, I opted for the 'cool' rather than the scalding cleansing option - very bracing and brought back memories of my childhood.

Back to the road and scenery. Cactuses (don't like cacti) dot the mountain slopes and add a desert-like feel, enhanced by the occasional horse rider in a cowboylike hat - horses are very big around here (not bigger physically necessary) - although I'm not a big fan. The combination of cactuses and snow-capped mountains is breaking down some of my stereotypical perceptions of what to expect of scenery - Heidi/John Wayne. Reluctant to leave either the cactuses or the snowy mountains, we deviated along a non-dirt winding road and identified (with the help of my bins): Patagonian Tyrant, Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch and a Condor (circling gracefully against backdrop of vivid blue sky).

The above was the easy bit and for some unimagineable reason we thought it would be much more straightforward heading due NNW back to the centre of Santiago. We expected to hit a patch of countrysideish route and then to find a motorway of sorts - ha ha ha. It's difficult to describe the feeling of travelling along a straight road with apparently no end, through cityscape of every imaginable type - with NOT a signpost in sight OR name of town to suggest our whereabouts. We occasionally used the silhouette of the Andes and the compass to check that we were at least heading in the right direction - and looking on the bright side - at least it wasn't raining, but a scorcher of a day (to be stuck in a car, lost).

We had no choice but to struggle on, unless we wanted to live in the car forever, stopped at some 'semaforos' (traffic lights). When buildings started to get seriously big and important looking, we guessed that we had arrived somewhere - and it was at about this point (and by now in utter desperation) that I took out the i phone again, hoping that the 'location apps' might work. Unbelievably, we were then able to start using it as a sat nav and could pinpoint our destination. The journey didn't quite end there due to the one way systems, but at least we knew where we were at last. It puts conquering Everest or fighting off bears in the Arctic (with a mouse trap) into perspective - much more straightforward in my opinion!

Turning up at this city hotel I realised that my trousers and general mountain apparel of multiple layers didn't seem quite so appropriate here (!) - sludge green men's with thick fleecy underlayer - never mind. Out to Carmen's tonight and meeting the tour group tomorrow - happy days!