Chile – El Yeso valley [1] - Neil's Wildlife Journal

Santiago, 18 Mar 2012

Yesterday, the Saturday of my second weekend in Santiago, I went birding again. Earlier in the week, I posted a request on the Birding Pal website for possible Santiago-based birders, who would be willing to introduce me to the best birding spots around Santiago. I received an almost instant reply. So yesterday I set out for the El Yeso valley with my two new birding pals.

The valley is situated about 70 km south-east of Santiago. The Yeso River flowing from the valley is a tributary of the much larger Maipo River. Their confluence is at the village of San Gabriel, which lies at an elevation of about 1,270 m. A gravel road from the village climbs the valley to the El Yeso Dam/Embalse El Yeso at an elevation of about 2,570 m, a 1,300 m climb in just over 25 km. We birded this stretch of road and then drove past the dam and further up the valley, where the scenery is breathtaking. We reached a point some 14 km beyond the dam wall. From here you look further up the valley towards the spine of the Andean mountain range, forming the border with Argentina, the peaks rising from 4,000 m to 6,108 m on the Marmolejo volcano. There is even a glacier on one of the peaks in Chile, the Mesón Alto Glacier/El Glaciar Mesón Alto. The lip of the glacier is at an altitude of about 4,600 m.