Chile: Part 3

I was a bit disappointed when I went through this last folder of pictures. The area of the island where they were taken is called Plazoleta El Yunque. El Yunque is the name of the highest peak on the island that rises abruptly behind Cumberland Bay where the town is located. The translation then is roughly "small plaza (think town square) of the mountain". Plazoleta is spectacular old growth native forest, latticed with small streams that gently trickle through the ferns and around the giant roots of the ancient trees. This area also houses the highest concentration of hummingbird nesting known on the island. I tried taking pictures of nests and females on the nests, but that really didn't work so well. Turns out tiny birds that nest in the upper canopy are hard to photograph with a point and shoot.

The lighting was horrible the day I was taking pictures and thus washed out the colors. Couple that with a camera lens fogging internally due to passing showers that brought large swings in temperature and humidity, and my pictures just do not do justice. But, I will share nonetheless and at the very least you can get a sense of the uniqueness of the flora and the beauty of this island.

This is the best picture I took of the old growth, just doesn't do it justice though.

To get an idea of the scale of this plant look at the upper left corner for one of our local partners with a red backpack.

When large trees fall and leave openings in the canopy in riparian areas this plant takes off.