Llama and alpaca herders seasonally occupy this hut in Parque Nacional Lauca, rotating their camelids to different areas for grazing.  Rheas nest near the hills in the background, vicuñas forage in both the grasslands and the bog, and diademed sandpiper plovers will be found in the bofedal.  Seedsnipes, miners, canasteros, rheas, Andean Geese, negritos, Diuca Finches, White-fronted Ground-tyrants, a pair of nesting caracaras and 2 condors were seen in  this valley when the photo was taken in October. The day of this photo the owner of the camelids borrowed my spotting scope to help find his llamas which had run away with a herd of vicuñas. The altitude is between 4,300 and 4,400 meters. 

 Putre, Chile    ©  2000 B. Knapton