I will soon be departing on a two-year mission trip for my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) to Santiago, Chile. My purpose in moving there is not to visit zoos or view wildlife, but I will have a day each week that I will be able to do things such as that. The purpose of this thread is to get recommendations on things not to miss. One limitation, however, is that my mission has mission boundaries that I am not supposed to leave and unfortunately it appears that the Buin zoo is just outside my mission boundaries. I might be able to visit it with special permission, but it is not something I should count on. So without being able to visit any zoos and being confined mostly to the city, what animals native to South America should I keep an eye out for?
I have no suggestions, as I've never even been out of the country (let alone to Chile), but I just wanted to wish you safe travels and hope you have a fulfilling mission trip.
The national zoo in Santiago is a splendid south american collection. If you go often you main gain access to behind the scenes áreas. Find out were the rescued felines the kolokolo and guiña are kept. Cerró san Cristóbal park is a great place to see birds, too I also liked the national museum of natural history in Santiago Santiago is a great city you will enjoy.
Wow, 2 years in a country like Chile must be great. Next to the birds it also must be possible to see a lot of smaller lizards from which Chile has a large number of species - some very colorfull among them !
I don't know how big the area you can go to is, but there is a ski station somewhat out of the city which is good for birds and Mountain viscacha.
Well It's not often that I get to get on here these days, but I just thought I'd give a little update on my time here. I have spent most of the last six months in the city which isn't the best place to see wildlife. I have seen 3 or 4 Jewel Lizards (Liolaemus tenuis) two of which were quite colorful which wass fun. I have seen a number of different birds including hawks, some parrots, quail and some other interesting colored birds. If anyone is real interested I could look up the names, but I'm fairly sure they are all somewhat common. I have also been able to go to the Buin zoo twice and I have a ton of pictures if anyone is interested. I haven't had time to upload anything yet, but I'll get around to it eventually. I still haven't had a chance to visit the Santiago Zoo but I think I eventually will be able to.
