17-19 October
The rain has been falling in Katalapi for a few days. We get the occasional ray of sun. On Thursday morning, the sun came out creating a vapour blanket in the fields around us. Between classes we have been able to see some more of Katalapi. A walk in the forest was a great way to get up close with the native vegetation. On a wet walk, we saw Proteaceae trees, Nothofagus, bamboos, and some nearly-arborescent ferns with think leaves resembling cycads. Lifting logs near the wet path revealed several species of frogs that looked up at us surprised. Matías, managed to fool a male frog calling to defend its territory by calling and walking closer to it. The frog was hidden deep in the roots of a tree.
A highlight of the days here was to catch and photograph some beautiful and orange bees. The most abundant is a bright orange species of Colletidae with a body completely covered by orange hairs including its legs and face. But the best was Bombus dahlbomii, a Chilean bee that is among the largest of the world and currently highly endangered. It was gorgeous in all its orange splendour!
On Thursday evening we escape and went to explore a bit of the area. We passed through Puerto Montt and saw Chiloe in the horizon. Along the road we caught three Tricahue parrots with their green bodies and flashes of blue. Then we drove towards a large lake, past Puerto Varas and towards the volcanoes of Calbuco, Yates, Puntiagudo and Osorno. The snowy peaks were covered by cloud at its highest, but we could see their snowy skirts. We reached the rapids and waterfalls of Saltos the Petrohue. The road there is flanked by a thick layer of black volcanic ash proof of the volcanic eruption of Calbuco two years ago. The view of the rapids cutting through the magma at the foot of the volcanoes was spectacular. On the way back we stopped in Puerto Varas at the shore of the lake. On our return to Katalapi we caught the tail of a thunderstorm. The lightning rumbled far away and when we reached the station the rain had stopped again.
