Today I woke up early and bravely navigated the Santiago metro, met with my contact at the Chilean Ornithological society, and headed out of town.

About an hour outside the city, I got to watch as researchers caught and took blood and feather samples from six Andean condors who will soon be headed to Colombia.

It was a great couple of hours, during which I got in a lot of Spanish practice. In related news, I may need a translator for my tapes when I get home. These folks talk crazy-fast.

Tomorow, early, I leave for Patagonia. I’m leaving the tablet behind, but will try to post again before we head into the park for 5 days off-grid.