Driving down to Lita (if you are counting along, this is day 5)
Here I was excited to see how Schomburgkias grow in the wild and this was really interesting. But first to get there -
Don't you love these roads spiraling the Andean mountains? The scenery is always impressive!
I was reminded of Passiflora molissima, but this one was red. It is probably a variety of P. tripartita /red Granadilla
Lupines at Alpine zone
At the Hosteria Rancho Santa Fe, a huge sprawling hotel surrounded by a large property, but a bit empty at the time of our stay.
Some Cacti along the way, it is a bit drier here
Exploring the vegetation here -
Catasetum expansum
A large plant of Schomburgkia splendida grew on a large tree that had now landed on the ground. Other plants of this were a lot more exposed to straight sunshine as they grew high up in the canopy.
Stopping at a very interesting place/farm, with lots of Pitahaya plants cultivated over large boulders and it was here that we saw Schomburgkia splendida also growing in rupicolous fashion.
