We are now at the next lake, and here are the birds that we have come to see. Mario saw that one of the flamingos had a ring, and he tried to see the text on the ring in the telescope, but he was not able to. We sneaked closer and close down to the waterline, but the birds moved away from us more or less at the same speed.

But you don't really have to go this far into the mountains to see flamingos. On my first occasion in Argentina, I was to El Calafate, which is the base for excursions to the mighty Perito Moreno glacier. There, in a pool by the lake, were a number of flamingos. Since El Calafate is a major tourist stop, I thought this was some planted gimmick, but according to Mario, it is likely that they are in their natural habitat there. We usually think of flamingo as a tropical bird, and El Calafate on 54°S is certainly not in the tropics.