On the 3rd of February we welcome, for her second visit, Pat Alker from Denby Dale. Pat and her husband support the running of a school in rural Ethiopia which was the subject of the talk on her previous visit.
This time, however, she entertained us with a description of an exotic holiday she enjoyed with her husband, the talk being titled Chile North to South. She established the fact that no members of the Forum had ever visited Chile and we quickly realised what an unusual country it is, being over 2000 miles in length but an average of just over 100 miles width. After landing in the capital Santiago her tour group moved to the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth where rainfall has never been recorded. What little moisture the area receives is from a morning mist fed by the nearby Pacific Ocean which is enough to support some scrub and a few birds.
They then moved to the central Lake District which is an unpassable barrier to motor transport such that anyone wishing to travel by road to the south must divert into Argentina. The final part of the journey took them to Punto Arenas in the far south where the attractions included glaciers and penguins.
The talk was illustrated with pictures of the spectacular scenery and unusual birds and animals but the local population were reluctant to be photographed.
The Forum Chairman, Mike Earle, thanked Pat for a fascinating talk.