Drive to Putre

 

From Gerardo's we drove along the Lluta River valley and up into the Andes.  We stopped along the way to view an Andean ibis in an alfalfa field.

Further along we turned off for the village of Molinos.  

A forest of these plants.

It was actually a giant horsetail (equisetum) that towered over our heads.

We'd come to Molinos to find a Peruvian pygmy owl but had no luck.

Molinos' church

But we did see a Vermillion flycatcher.

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There were two very long waits for highway construction on the route so we didn't arrive at our destination until dusk.

As we were driving into our hotel on the outskirts of Putre we saw a nightjar on the road.  Then when we pulled into our hotel we saw another one perched on a bench outside our rooms.

Band-winged nightmare ( blurry but it was nighttime.)

We didn't get to our restaurant till 8 pm.  By then we were all starving and service was terribly slow. 

Inside our restaurant in Putre

We had that authentic Andean specialty, Hawaiian pizza. And it was not bad at all.

Total species seen today:  44  Lifers:  23