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Chile and Easter Island

Inside the Chapel The Motherhood of Mary

Another Condor looking over our arrival into their habitat.

The mountains of Torres del Paine - jagged granite ridges and spires capped with shale - have long held significance for the region's native inhabitants. According to local myth, an evil serpent called Cai Cai caused a massive flood to kill the warrior tribe that lived in Torres del Paine. When the flood waters receded, Cai Cai took the bodies of the two largest warriors and turned them to stone - thereby creating the twin horns that crown the mountaintop of Cuernos del Paine.

The lamb is cooked in this up right position with the heat in front of it.

Cruising by smaller craft through the bay of Alsina Glacier.

Toconao is a village 24 miles south of San Pedro de Atacama in the San Pedro de Atacama province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. It lies at an elevation of 8,153 feet above sea level, close to the northeast margin of the Salar de Atacama. The most notable building in Toconao is its church. The bell tower is separated from the main church structure and dates from 1750.

Looking skyward at La Virgen. Notice the new moon above the lower hand.

On its summit there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, with a 66 foot statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an amphitheater and a chapel. The statue of the Immaculate Conception measures 42 feet tall, and the pedestal on which it rests is 24.9 feet in height. Within the pedestal there is a small chapel in which Pope John Paul II prayed and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987. The statue is lit up at night by lights placed on its sides, allowing it to be viewed from all over Santiago both day and night. At the foot of the statue there is an amphitheater for holding masses or other religious ceremonies. Near the statue, there is also a small chapel for praying.

For the second time on this trip we view up close a Condor in flight. I was one of the only photographers to catch this magnificent bird in flight.

More than 40 mammals make their home in the park, including the guanaco, puma, and Patagonian gray fox. Some of the world's rarest bird species - the Andean condor, crested cara cara, and black vulture among them - are also found in Torres.

El Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) is located 8 miles west of San Pedro de Atacama, to the north of Chile in the Cordillera de la Sal, in the Atacama desert. It has various stone and sand formations which have been carved by wind and water. It has an impressive range of color and texture, looking somewhat similar to the surface of the moon. There are also dry lakes where the composition of salt makes a white covering layer of the area. It presents diverse saline outcrops which appear like man-made sculptures

Murals on the face of a restaurant

Giant molinas or wind mills on the Atacama desert floor located in Northern Chile.

A memorial erected on the high desert floor for those in this area that lost their lives during the oppressive Allende years from this part of Chile..

Ironically our bus driver's father was one of those killed from this area.

Not only does Torres del Paine boast several distinct ecosystems; each ecosystem contains a wealth of landscapes, flora, and fauna found nowhere else in world.

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