Every expedition begins in one of two ways, either a first hand report from a fellow Rider or through the scrutiny of newspapers, news feeds and local rumours.

It was Olivier who first spotted signs of activity, trawling through online news accounts from Chile. Several Chaca farmers with land on the edge of the Atacama Desert had reported missing livestock. A couple of weeks after the disappearances began, a drover discovered several carcasses and the incident caught the attention of the media. The article attributed the dead animals to some sort of big cat, but photos released with the story suggested a very different predator.

We began hunting for more signs, searching the net and local papers, which we had couriered over. There was nothing, until Manu uncovered some reports of recent bird-watching expeditions in that area, which were curiously absent of an essential ingredient: birds. Then, almost three weeks after Olivier's discovery, a small follow-up in a local newspaper confirmed that the plight of the farmers continued without relief. At this point, we decided to see for ourselves.

If there was a dragon in the area, you could bet it would be holed up somewhere in the rocky badlands, between the farming communities and the desert proper. With the Atacama Desert reaching daily temperatures between 0°C and 25°C, none of us were looking forward to the cold. So, with suitable clothing in addition to our usual chasing gear, maps and guidebooks, the three of us took a flight to Arica.

In Chile, the hard part of our task began. It took another ten days to piece together the first-hand accounts of the farmers and work out a rough area to reconnoitre. Then we struck gold. An old lady in Chaca told us of similar livestock disappearances back in her childhood and described seeing a fire lizard in the hills beyond her uncle's farm.

Loading up our rented jeep, we decided to begin our search there. Our plan was to park up each day at a different farm and trek on foot into the rocky hills.

On the third day, our luck went both ways. We found it, but it also found us, and as you can see, it wasn't happy.

What went wrong? Was there more we could have done? Not really. After several weeks of research and preparation, sometimes the best laid plans just don't work out.

Next time though...



By Éric