Chilean Stone: El Palmar

Today was a long and eventful day.

I started off waking up at 6:30 and collecting my stuff, eating a quick breakfast, and heading over to the bus station. I found out that the bus left at 6:55, and I didn’t get there until 7:20. The next bus left at 10:20, so I had the opportunity to walk around town and see some of the sights. I ended up finding exactly what I was looking for (a nice wetland with tons of birds) and had a hard time pulling myself away from it all to make it back to my bus on time. I saw some great birds, which I’ve listed for your viewing pleasure below.
I then took the bus to the town just to the north of El Palmar National Park, and then a taxi to the visitor center (although it ended up costing me much more than I thought it would, which I was pretty upset about, $25 in total, but it was all worth it). I ended up getting to the park at around noon, and despite the visitor center being closed, it had some great trails with numerous interpretive signs. The trails were mostly close to the river, but the main road winded its way through the palm plains that constitutes most of the park. I hiked it all, and saw another batch of great birds, although no rheas today (Frustratingly enough I did find rhea tracks). It was a beautiful park, and I highly recommend it.
I then went back to the bus station, and I wanted to get to the town of Mercedes, where I could then go to another town near the Esteros de Iberá National Reserve, but all of their buses were full. This is the first time that I’ve encountered a full bus, and I don’t know why it was so. Instead I took a bus to another town a little to the north, because there are a lot more bus companies there. THEY were all full too, and the first bus I would be able to get to Mercedes would be tomorrow at noon. I didn’t have too much time as it is, so I’m just going to go ahead to Iguazú, and spend a couple of extra days there :). Right now I’m sitting in the bus terminal at Concordia, and it so happens that they have free wifi! The bus to Iguazú takes about twelve hours, so I’ll get there at around noon tomorrow. Hopefully my next post will include pictures of the falls!

Life birds for today:
Brazilian Duck, Giant Wood-rail, Large-billed Tern, Picazuro Pigeon, Spot-winged Pigeon, Green-barred Woodpecker, Rufous Hornero, Brown Cachalote, White-crested Tyrannulet, White Monjita, Plush-crested Jay, Masked Gnatcatcher, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Yellowish Pipit, Great Pampa-finch, Hooded Siskin, Spotted Tinamou, Grey-fronted Dove, White-barred Piculet, Field Flicker, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Variable Antshrike, Drab-breasted Pygmy-tyrant, Blue-billed Black-tyrant, Crested Black-tyrant, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Creamy-bellied thrush, Epaulet Oriole, Ruby-crowned Tanager.
A pretty good day over all ::).