Juan Fernandez Islands
25
Feb
Juan Fernández Islands: Isla Santa Clara Sin Conejos
- By eggedit
February 23, 2015
It turned out that the huge tarantula on the floor of the cabin on Isla Santa Clara was actually a very special endemic species, found only on two islands in the world. It could have been more massive, as far as tarantulas go, but at about 2 inches long, it was huge enough for my taste, especially since I would be sleeping Read more…
05
Feb
Juan Fernández Islands: Of Fences and Fardelas
- By eggedit
February 2, 2015

Jessie Beck checking Pink-footed Shearwater burrows with a wireless infra-red camera called Pukamanu.
I clamber up a steep slope of crumbly rock, sculpted over centuries by the wind into fantastic mini spires and castles. We are in the rain shadow section of Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, and the landscape is a desert, with barren white and brown rock and hardly a plant in sight. Every few feet a tunnel disappears into Read more…
04
Feb
Juan Fernández Islands: Rescuing the Plants
- By eggedit
January 26, 2015

Cuadrilla: The Rescatemos work crew after working in the creek on incipient invasive control. Left to Right: Ryan Carle, Rolando Recabarren, Jessie Beck, Gonzalo Mardones, Carles Busilder, y Kenneth Torres.
The mud grabbed at my over-sized rubber boots and splashed all over my clothes as I used my pick (picoto) to muck out the roots of Sium latifolum, an invasive semi-aquatic plant from Brazil that vaguely resembles celery, from one of the creeks flowing through the town of San Juan Bautista, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile. Our work crew (cuadrilla) Read more…
14
Jan
Juan Fernández Islands: El Principio
- By M.H.

Oikonos and Island Conservation team working together on Robinson. Standing (L to R): Jessie Beck, Sara de Rodt, Hector (Chipi) Gutiérrez, Pablo Retamal Bottom (L to R): Kenneth Torres, Ryan Carle, Christian (Chupa) López, Rolando Recabarren, Peter Hodum, Daniel Leiva
January 13, 2015
Hola de Robinson Crusoe Island!
From the window above my work station, I watch streams of thick, cool fog pour down through a crack in the mountains (where Alejandro Selkirk’s, i.e. Robinson Crusoe, look-out was situated). The fog swirls down into the small town of San Juan Bautista, covering everything in small beads of water. The fog lets up Read more…