More Sea Lions
Trip Start
Oct 19, 2007
1
92
126
Trip End
Ongoing
Puerto Madryn,
Argentina
Saturday, February 2, 2008
In the van I sit next to this Swiss girl who is sort of cute but she thinks she is way too smart for her own good and I sort of want to punch her. She speaks 5 languages and is only 19 which is very impressive but so is me elbowing her in the cooter. We get along pretty well, but she definitely thinks she is much smarter than me which makes her sort of stupid and annoying at the same time. She is pretty fun to fuck around with though and it provides some necessary comedy to this trip.
We hop on this boat and we jet off to see some sea lions and some Cormorants. The features of this place are somewhat prosaic but so prosaic that the images stay with you as the landscape is so different from anything ever seen before. The salient point of the boat trip is whale watching but since we can`t do this we get to go snorkeling instead. Now, snorkeling is usually pretty cool as you get to see a bunch of tropical fish and shit but since this is Patagonia you don`t get to see shit except rocks under the water which would be like going to a bar to drink coke or going to a baseball game to watch the Phillies play the Marlins. I do get to wear a wet suit for the first time in my life though which actually sort of sucked since it was a bit too small and I felt like the little brother from Xmas Story as it was difficult to move my limbs. The water is freezing at first but after a couple of minutes you get used to it and the wet suit starts to do its job of retaining body heat and then the water becomes very refreshing as you just float there looking up at the surrounding landscape and the largest and clearest blue sky I have ever seen. When I first get in I punch under the water to warm myself up which is a handy little trick Ewee and I taught ourselves as little kids because moms made us take swim lessons at like 7am when the water was freezing. Try it, it totally works. Snorkeling is pretty stupid though as like I said there is nothing to see, so I just take off my maske and float in the crystal clear Patagonian waters.
Back in the van and we hit up Punta Norte which has a large sea lion colony and is the place where we have a small chance to see a Killer Whale eat a baby (I once ate me a baby, get in my belly). We spend an hour or so here and we don`t get to see any Killer Whales which blows but I can`t control nature, or wait, can I, I can`t. There are 100`s of Sea Lions here and the males are absolutely insane. The males make for a very stressful and hectic life for all the females as they are always roaring and fighting over women and territory. All they do all day is chase after other males who they think come too close. Each male has between 8-14 females and that is why most of the fighting occurs, to gain females. Man, talk about being overprotective. Most of the males have cuts and shit all over them due to all of the fighting. The males would totally get on my nerves and if I were the chicks I`d team up and stage a mutiny and then just dyke out the rest of my life. Not only would it be much less noisy but it would be much sexier also. Darwin actually spent a lot of time in Patagonia and this area helped him develop his theory of evolution (although that name was given to his theory by someone else). The Galapagos is really where he had his breakthrough but this area led to the foundation of his ideas.
The Swiss chick went snorkelying with her supposedly waterproof camera and now it doesn`t work which is hilarious to me. We go and check out some penguins and I ask her why she isn`t taking any pictures. She gets pretty salty at this. The landscape is very surreal and unique and the water is as blue as any I have ever seen. We see some armadillos by the cars and they actually let you pet them. To be honest with you they act quite a bit like showoffs. On the way back I have some interesting conversations with the Swiss chick. I tell her I don`t even believe in reality which is as nihilistic as you can get. English isn`t her first language but she knows what nihilistic means and I give her credit she may be a bit condescending but she is very intelligent. We traveled over 400km today in the van and when I get back I`m pretty beat and I have to get up early for another tour tomorrow.
Fin .
A male and baby Sea Lion - Peninsula Valdes
