Good Morning Everyone!
Por suerte I have internet access in my house this morning so I thought it would be the perfect time to write a travel blog. A week ago my trusty travel companion, Mackai and I set off on an adventure of no heroic means, to quote the late Ernesto "Che"Guevara de le Serna when he spent a year traveling around the continent of South America with unforseen intentions of what a trip like that could do to a person and can still do, I think.
By this point in my trip, I am all about completing my goals. What is left to be seen? What do I have to do that others told me was imperative? Now, after a very short trip to Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdez in the Chubut province of Argentina I can cross it off my list. We left Friday night with Don Otto buslines serving us wine and hot delicious airplane style food, yummy!!! We reclined into our executive beds which we have come to discover when you are traveling more than 10 hours on a bus, comfort is key, well atleast an attempt at comfort is key. When I awoke in the fetal position, I didn't see towns or buildings in the distance but only the horizon line extending between spacious Argentine blue sky because there is such a thing and dusty, arid landscape. The sun was beating through the windows down upon my body. All I knew at that early morning hour was that we were definitely not in Porteno-land anymore. We had reached a place of extreme weather. We had traveled to a place of flat desert when talk of the Atlantic ocean with whales had brought me here in the first place...We had reached Patagonia!!!
Our first order of business was to get a hostel. You may be thinking that we should be going to a hostel we already had reserved but that is just not how we as travel companions function. We are all about timing and feel that there is no need to rush because something will come our way. The "Don't Worry be Happy" hostel was practically thrown into our hands as we stepped off of the bus and thought that the name really fit our travel philosophy best so we booked the two last spots in the joint, see what did I tell you about timing my friends!
It was a classy establishment with a nice staff and pictures of whales and penguins adorning the walls. We set our stuff down and headed for the next most important part of our trip...the beach ofcourse! After an hour nap basking in the sun and watching the whales dip in and out of the water we tried to fit in with the rest of the crowd who seemed to be licking up some delicious ice cream. If you were to ask me in a couple of months what I miss most about Argentina, I would say that the dulce de leche ice cream would have to be pretty high up on that list. Here I cherish the cow more for it's milk that makes the cream than I do for it's meat but that is just me. I ran along the boardwalk around sunset after many hours of letting that rich ice cream digest so as not to feel too guilty about the consumption.
The next morning we woke up early and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast of two medialunas (Croissants in the shape of half moons...everyone can learn spanish when they read my multi-functional travel blogs yay!) We took a full day tour of Peninsula Valdez which is about 45 minutes from Puerto Madryn and is a protected site for the Right whale, penguins and elephant seals. As we drove atop the cliffs that overlooked the big blue ocean, we saw sheep grazing and these miniature llama species called guanaco which also spit at you in case you were wondering. All day, actually all weekend I was so impressed by the different ecosystems, climates and species that could survive in this area. It is truly a sight to see. Our first stop was the penguins and I think they were my favorite because we were so close to them. All I would have to do to pick one up by it's short torso was hop a little fence but I restrained only because they looked like they would probably sink their sharp little beak into me if I tried but they are so precious and funny looking. Speaking of those characteristics, I figured out that if my dear, sweet brother were to be in animal form he would definitely be a penguin. Hi Patrick!
We broke for lunch at a cafe overlooking the ocean and a sandy beach where the elephant seals sprolled out and barked at one another. I took a quick glance but having seen the seals down on fisherman's wharf with my totally amused father and the seals in Santa Cruz I figured they probably aren't too different in Chubut and there was nothing different chubut them hee hee! I am kind of obessed with this name because I think of it as how a Canadian would say about. My spanish teacher did tell me this week that they are an interesting animal group because all of the elephant seals except for one or two are females. The male mates with all the females that surround him until another male comes along and challenges him for the position.
In the afternoon we traveled to Puerto Piramides which has 400 inhabitants in the entire town. It was such a cute, lazy beach town that is completely dependent on eco-tourism. We took a one hour boat tour around sunset to get close to the whales. I learned from the guides that the Right Whale comes up to Peninsula Valdez from Antarctica from April to December to mate. They do not really eat up here except for some crill but when they head back down south, that is all they do for four months. We saw them jump and use the full power of their spouts. One even opened his mouth just as I was taking a picture. I think we had a real connection because the guide told me it is very rare that they do that. It was a very cool day for me and it made the distance we traveled seem so worth it.
The next morning I went for a long run on the boardwalk again so I would be exhausted enough to sit lazily on the bus for 17 hours. We did a little tourist shopping and ofcourse hit up our favorite ice cream store one last time. Our bus was late and when it did arrive it did not seem so executive to us. The seats were not as comfy, their were cracks in the windows. There was no wine or whicky- their pronunciation of whiskey here. These are things one tends to notice as a traveled veteran such as myself but that is what you get and you make the best of it. I finished a trashy romance novel that I may have swiped from the hostel to pass the time nicely which it did, oh no I am headed down the path of trashy romance novels like my mom! We arrived back in Buenos Aires at 9 am on Tuesday morning so I supposed that I had better make the classes I was planning on missing out on because buses are usually never on schedule.
I am glad I went. My classes are actually pretty good right now. I take advantage of my spanish class because I really enjoy my teacher and we can ask her anything about colloquialisms or grammar. My tango class is picking up pace as we are preparing for our final presentation. It is fun because I am getting to know some of the Argentine dancers in my group. Today for my human rights class I am going to a shanty town to volunteer at a day care/school. These kids are left here on Saturdays while their parents go to work. It will be interesting to see what that is like.
Next weekend I am going to Colonia, Uruguay which is so exciting because I have been really wanting to go to Uruguay since I got here. You would think that would have been the easisest trip since it is only two hours by ferry from Buenos Aires but atleast I am going now. Other than that I am awaiting the arrival of my parents and marking all the things I want to show them. In my orientation program they told us that if the experiences or time of our trip could be put up on a chart it would kind of look like peaks at first and then flatten out before going back to peaks. The peaks represent the up's and downs of the trip while the flattened part is when you feel comfortable and are having a great time. I definitely had the up's and downs. I had the euphoria and now I feel like I am running out of time and doubting if I will see it all. Yet another part of me is saying no regrets, you have seen and done so much already that you should just be happy with that. I guess all I can do is really live from moment to moment for the rest of my time because it will be gone in a flash pretty soon here.
Well now that I have written another novel about myself, I would like to know how everyone else is doing as usual. Hope everyone will be tuning into the Rockies in the series and filling me in on all the details! Miss and love all of you very much!
Kate
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