MY (PHOTOGRAPHIC) NEWS SECTION:

Welcome to my news photo-blog! Below there is a selection of images, related to my trips, work and other activities that I have carried out or participated in, either in Chile or abroad. All photographs have been taken by myself (© R. Demarco, 2014-2022), unless explicitly stated otherwise.

December 31th, 2021: Last day of the year in Villarrica. The day began with a beautiful twilight before sunrise, with the silhouette of the Villarrica volcano dominating the scene over the lake, crowned by the Moon and some stars. However, early in the morning the weather changed to give pass to gorgeous clouds full of water that covered the place and gave the area that particularly spectacular winter illumination.





October 30th, 2021: A visit to the General Cemetery of the city of Santiago, in Chile. A really intersting place, not only because of the architectural beauty of the whole place, but for the historical richness of it. Not only personal, bacause some of my close reltives' remains are here, but national, because it is now the permanent home to the remains of important persons who, in their time, played an influential role in the development of the country. If you have the opportunity, I recommend you visit this place with all the respect and admiration it deserves. After all, it is more than 200 years old! It was established in 1821, after Chile's independence from Spain, when Bernardo O'Higgins inaugurated the Alameda de las Delicias (today known as General Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue or just La Alameda).





October 25th, 2021: A view of the Costanera Center tower from Ñuñoa in Santiago. What I like of this image, and that's why I took this photograph, is the array of colors created by sunset. This picture was captured a short time after the Sun disappeared behind the Cordillera de La Costa, when the landscape is illuminated by the particularly nice light of twilight. The partcular glass surface of the tower and the office lights in the buildings give the escene a particular texture.





August 26th, 2021: A tourt to the Concepción campus of the Universidad de Concepción, the place where I work. This is one of the most beautiful university campuses in Chile. It has two architectonic landmarks: the so-called Medicine Arch and the Clock Tower. The latter is seen in the first two (from top to bottom) pictures below. It was inspired by the clock tower of the capus at Berkeley of the University of California in the US. Nice extensive lawns, gardens, and a relatively large pond are part of the internal landscape which is also populated by the different buildings of the different schools, library, and administration. The pond, called "Laguna de Los Patos", can be seen in the first and third photographs. Next to it, as shown by the third photo from the top, the six-story main building of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences flanks the smaller, two-story Astronomy building where my office is located. I have indeed a nice view over the pond. The university was funded by the people of Concepción on May 14th, 1919. To celebrate its centennial, a commemorative sculpture was erected on the lawn right outside our main school building (bottom photograph).





August 7th, 2021: An exploratory trip to the beutiful area of Coihueco, about 25 km East of Chillán. A rich variety of flora and fauna, in the Andes' pre-cordillera, gives this place a singular beauty that attracts the senses. The trip started in Concepción, taking the Itata freeway in direction to Chillán. The photographs below try to be a representative, although in no case complete, visual description of the different textures, colors, and land life forms that we encountered on that one-day adventure. The bottom picture corresponds to the Cathedral in downtown Chillán. The arechitectural design of its structure is unique, and constitute an icon of the city.





July 28th, 2021: The tallest mountain of the Metropolitan Region of Chile: the imposing Cerro El Plomo, with an elevation of 5,424 meters above sea level. It is by far the tallest mountaintop seen from Santiago, clearly recongnizable by the glacier on its top, which makes it the only mountain with "snow" during summer. Unfortunately, due to global warming, the ice mass has been decreasing notoriously over the last few decades. Note that the elevation of Cerro El Plomo is similar to that of the base camp of Everest by the Khumbu Icefall.





July 25th, 2021: Two types of tall structures in Santiago of Chile, one natural and one artificial. The top photograph shows the summit of Cerro San Ramon, the tallest point on the Ramon's Cierra with an elevation of 3,236 meters above sea level. It is one the most prominent mountaintops right next to the capital city. In contrast, the bottom photograph shows the tallest building in Lating America, the Tower 2 of the Costanera Center commercial complex, a 64-story structure with a height of 300 meters. In the case of Cerro San Ramon, the view of the image is to the East, while in the case of the Costanera Center tower, the view of the picture is to the North.





July 22nd, 2021: The Maipo gorge is located southeast of Santiago, and extends all the way up into the Andes to the border with Argentina. It encompasses the upper Maipo River basin, where the river has entrenched itself in a narrow valley. The zone features a series of confluent rivers such as El Volcán, Yeso, and Colorado, as well as other minor streams. The main town in the area is San José de Maipo, the capital of the commune that includes all of the Andean sector of the Metropolitan Region. The Maipo gorge is the perfect natural school for rock climbers and mountaineers, with all kinds of mountain environments and terrains, including mountains that are taller than 6,000 meters of elevation above see level. When I was young, I used to go often to this wonderful area to practice mountaineering and be close to the wild nature.





July 19th, 2021: Another great afternoon and amazing sunset in La Serena. Sea birds are again outstanding actors in the images. Noteworthy are the fishing birts portrayed in the first photograph at the top. With tremendous maneuverability and precision, the Yeco or Black Cormoran is capable of Kamikaze-like flights right into the water to get its food. Pretty amazing! Look at the splashes in the water and the aerodynamical shapes adopted by those birds during attack. In the background, the port of Coquimbo and the Millennial Cross.





July 19th, 2021: Located at about 25 minutes drive south from La Serena, the beach of Morrillos is home to a variety of sea birds. The beach is about 6 km in length with brown sand and transparent waters. It's a great place for a walk and bird watching, in addition to other sea-related activities. The photographs below try to describe the place and the variety of beautiful birds that populate the place in abundance. Most noticeable specimens are: Common Pilpilén (top); Dominican Seagull (4th, 6th, and 8th from the top); and Garuma Seagull (5th from the top).





July 17th, 2021: With only 550 meters of elevation, Cerro Grande is the tallest mountain in La Serena. It is easily recognizable by all the communication and television antennas installed on its summit. This area is very popular among mountain bikers and trekkers, offering interesting trails with varying levels of difficulty. In its foothills, the Cerro Grande battle took place on April 29th, 1859, event during which the Chilean government defeated the forces of Pedro León Gallo, putting thus an end to the 1859 revolution. A perfect sunny day accompanied us during our climb. The pictures below illustrate some interesting views. From top to bottom: two famous astronomers - Doug Geisler and Mark Phillips - and myself at the summit of Cerro Grande; a panoramic view from the summit of the whole Coquimbo-La Serena conurbation; part of Coquimbo and its bay with the Millennial Cross; and four major professional astronomical observatories - left to right: CTIO, SOAR, Gemini South, and Vera Rubin with its calibration telescope.





July 16th, 2021: A gorgeous sunset from a beach near La Serena.





April 14th, 2021: A white metalic bird flying right above my house. This is one of my favorite airplanes: a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. While living in the US, I had the opportunity to take flaying lessons on some of these airplanes. It's a very reliable aircraft, no wonder why it's widely used for training. The one in this photograph belongs to the Air Club of the Universidad de Concepción as indicated by the official university logo on the vertical stabilizer.





April 13th, 2021: A perfect little moment when the thin tongue (at least the tip of it) of a Green-backed Firecrown hummingbird is camptured on camera. This very specialized and complex structure allows these birds to drink the nectar from flowers.





April 10th, 2021: The dynamical beauty of a hummingbird in suspended animation.





April 3rd, 2021: Some interesting images of the diversity of events happening in the environment of a simple home tree: [top] a commited hummingbird approaches an abutilon tree's flower for a delicious treat; [middle] a resting male Green-backed Firecrown hummingbird indicating its presence by means of an electric-colored crown displaying a bright orange-yellow tint; [bottom] a yellowjacket wasp ready to feed itself from an attractive flower of the abutilon at home.





April 2nd, 2021: A hummingbird enjoying itself at our backyard tree. This type of bird corresponds to the southernmost species of the hummingbirds family and is named Green-backed Firecrown. It is also the only species of hummingbirds living out of tropical areas, being found from South Mendoza (Argentina) to Tierra del Fuego (Chile).





April 1st, 2021: Two hummingbirds on the abutilon treen at home. It is difficult to get two of them in one shingle frame. Usually they are relatively far apart or one follows the other at great speed. Here, I was lucky enough to get the two of them resting for a short while on nearby branches. Note that one of them (bottom left) displays a bright red crown.





March 2nd, 2021: An amazing adventure: flying over the Villarrica Volcano! The flight was carried out with a Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft from the Villarrica air field. It was about half an hour in duration and gave us the opportunity to see from a unique perspective such an amazing area full of lakes, mountains and volcanoes. Of course, the main attraction was the Villarrica volcano itself, where we could fly very close to its smoking crater and enjoy the magnificent views from the air near sunset. The bottom photograph shows the city of Villarrica from above, minutes before landing.





February 19th, 2021: A beautiful moonrise over the Villarrica lake. In both of the photographs below, the small island in the lake can be seen. They were taken near the Villarrica pier.





February 19th, 2021: The "Villarrica National Park" has an area of 63,000 hectares and is home to three major volcanoes in Southern Chile: Lanin, Quetrupillán, and Villarrica. The latter dominates the view from the nearby city of Villarrica, being the main local attraction. The Villarrica Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in South America. The flora and fauna of the park are diverse. A variety of tree types can be found at different elevations from the lower levels. Above a certain elevation, the arid and volcanic soil becomes the dominant terrain all the way up to the top of the mountain, except in the winter when it gives way to snow and ice. Besides a ski center, the park features volcanic caves, and beatiful hiking trails. One of them is the so called "Craters Trail" that can be reached from the park entrance near Pucón. The pictures below show a photogenic lizard and a lenga tree forest along the Craters Trail.





February 19th, 2021:The Araucania Region of Chile is characterized by a collection of volcanoes, some of them active, which are witnesses to the geological forces that formed that part of the Andes range and shaped the surrounding landscape. Near the town of Malalcahuello, to the North, there is the "Malalcahuello National Reserve", home to extensive lava flows associated to the Lonquimay Volcano. The overall area is impressive, with shapes and colors that give the impression of being on the Moon, although with some vegetation still present. Some prominent craters, volcanic in nature, can be seen, the most famous one bein the "Navidad Crater" created during the last eruption of Lonquimay in 1988. Nearby to the North, in the "Tolhuaca National Park", there is the Tolhuaca volcano, whereas to the South there is the impressive Conguillio Volcano in the "Conguillio National Park". Below, there are some representatives photographs of the area. From top to bottom: Lonquimay Volcano, Lonquimay and the Navidad Crater, La Honadesa Crater, some resilient vegetation, lava flows, Conguillio Volcano from the Lonquimay area, Tolhuaca Volcano, and Conguillio Volcano from a road to the North of the "Conguillio National Park".





February 18th, 2021: The photographs below try to give an overall idea of the beutiful countryside area around Malalcahuello in the Chilean Andes, including local constructions. Despite being a mountainous area, the elevation is not high enough as to allow for the development of abundant vegetation nurtured by water precipitation in summer (or snow in winter). Local flora is characterized by an important fraction of Araucaria trees, typical of the region. The vegetation serves as food for animals.





February 17th, 2021: A nearly half moon in-between clouds as seen from the mountain town of Malalcahuello in the Araucania Region of Chile.





February 15th, 2021: a typical rural fence in the Villarrica area. It is composed by rustic sticks supported by an array of barbed wires. This type of barrier is very common in the countryside of Chile.





February 14th, 2021: Top: the Villarrica volcano displaying a prominent emission of gases from its top which timidly shows up over an abundant layer of clouds. The volcano is certainly the outstanding geographical feature of the local landscape that contrasts the homonymous lake. Middle and bottom: a beautiful sunset over Villarrica.





January 17th, 2021: A sunny summer afternoon in our garden, a perfect moment for a bumblebee to stop by one the flowers to have some desert. The sequence below shows the same insect enjoying its meal.