Saludo from Argentina!

After our long ocean crossing, we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were all looking forward to getting on land and seeing our first South American city. Some of what we had learned about Argentina in our days prior to arrival were exciting and fun, while others were disturbing and frightening. We were fortunate to have Ashley Kerr Muhlenkamp, a friend from Charlottesville, on the ship as she presented a great introduction to Argentina since she had been a Fulbright scholar in Patagonia for a year. She spoke of the Argentinean’s love for their dogs, dulche de leche (caramel), seafood, wine, horses, steak, and tango. The food and wine were terrific, though it is not a cheap place to visit.

As usual we set out to find the beauty of the parks, and while they had a zoo in the city, a botanical garden, a Japanese garden, and a rose garden, the city was really covered with trash, which was disappointing.

 

You knew there had to be a cat picture

 

 

This is NOT a posed picture

We found statues of heroes on horseback from long ago with graffiti on the surrounding walls, and weeds growing and grass unkempt. The streets were not in good repair, and we were warned of a high crime rate. We traveled cautiously, and while we never felt threatened, we did not stay out late, as many students did. One of the premier places to visit is the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron and many other formerly rich and influential folks are buried. This cemetery is impressive and you can easily spend hours wandering around looking at the opulence spent upon burial. Etched glass, small chapels, statues, plants all were used to decorate these amazing graves.

We visited the city for 2 days, and we found some of the folks to be very kind in helping us travel around, and they seemed glad to practice their English speaking skills.

 

Meredith and Iva were spending 3 days and 2 nights in Patagonia visiting the wildlife there, since Meredith has been requesting a pet penguin since she was 2 years old. While we could not return with a penguin, much as we would have liked, we did get to visit them! So at 4 am we met in the dining room to have an early breakfast and head for the airport. A flight later and we were in northern Patagonia (it is a huge area) heading for the Valdes Peninsula. We were met with a terrific guide and a big comfortable bus for the duration. We were also fortunate on this trip to have our 2 faculty astronauts, Kathy Thornton and Pinky Nelson, visiting the wildlife with their families.

We headed to Punta Tombo, and penguin heaven!

The climate there is high steppe and extremely dry. The peninsula has been named a UNESCO world heritage site, and so no further building can be done on it. The only things on this large piece of land are sheep farms of 25,000 acres or more where the gauchos live. Their families generally live in the towns, for the children’s education, as there is nothing else in the area except sheep and native wildlife like the llama/ camel relative, guanaco.

 

We headed through this desolate area until we reached penguin paradise at Punta Tombo. These Magellan penguins lay only 2 eggs a year in the sand sometimes ½ mile from the ocean. One of the parents must remain with the eggs at all times, otherwise seagulls and foxes will poach their eggs.

They were EVERYWHERE. Both the male and females were minding the nests while we were there, with chicks born usually in December/ January, the height of their summer. Meredith and I could not believe how CUTE these birds are waddling back and forth to their nests, which were located under every bush on the horizon.

 

 

When the penguins sit they rest on their two legs and their strong tails (like a tripod) to keep them from falling over. Argentina has protected this area with roped off walkways to prevent anyone from crushing eggs off trail. There is even a boardwalk to allow the penguins to cross underneath and in front of the visiting people.

 

 

We were also able to watch the penguins playing
 in the waves and swim on their backs.

We saw some Cuy (Argentinean guinea pigs), ducks, hawks, and guanaco all living well together.

The winding trail was fascinating at every turn and Meredith and I were always last in line, as there was so much to enjoy. Penguins are mellow and so peaceful to watch. Only being here when the babies are born could be better.

 

Our group was allowed about 2 hours here- not nearly enough for us! But with lunch next and the bus leaving, we had to leave. We had a wonderful lunch on the bus as we drove toward the hotel at Puerto Madryn. One stop along the way was at the EcoCenter, which displayed a whale skeleton, a fabulous dark theater with whale sound recordings, and a live tank with real poisonous critters from the shallow part of the sea. We saw many types of sea urchins, sea anemones, starfish, and crabs. One of the unfortunate displays illustrated the lights from fishing vessels off the coast of Argentina in international waters. The lights from these vessels were as bright at night from satellite as any city in Argentina. Apparently the Europeans and Chinese send fishing boats here as the extraordinarily long continental shelf off Argentina’s coast makes for fabulous fishing. While it has impact on their marine mammals, there is nothing they can do to limit the impact of the overfishing, since the waters are international.

Puerto Madryn is a city located opposite the entrance of the Golfo Nuevo harbor in which whales can be seen in the summer months (our winter). It was a sprawling town with some paved streets and some made of gravel. Our hotel was on the farthest part of town and it was a 2 mile walk to the city center. We arrived for the night and were challenged with how to find dinner since we were so far from town. We headed out to find a spot with our 2 ship astronauts, Kathy Thornton and Pinky Nelson, and their families. We walked around the outskirts of town asking the few locals who could speak English where they suggested we eat and we learned the hard way that what locals considered a block was not the same as what we believed to be a city block. We ended up walking in a big circle and eating at a restaurant in a large hotel not far from the B&B where we were staying. Fortunately, we arrived about 10 minutes before they opened for the night, so all our exercise was not for nothing. One of the most challenging aspects of Argentina is that they eat all REALLY late. The earliest anyone starts to eat is 8 PM, and more typically they eat at 10 PM. We were happy to be the first ones in the place, since we were HUNGRY. While we had difficulties understanding the menu, we all ended up with great wine! Argentina has terrific beef and wine and we were pleased to enjoy it.

The next day we were up early, and headed out in our bus for some whale watching at Puerto Piramides. This quaint town had a huge wide beach where the whale watching boats are launched.

There was a great system where a tractor pushes the whale watching boat into the water so that a dock is not required. We had a 1-hour boat ride with a mom and baby whale beside the boat for more than ½ hour. The whales are here for several months in the summer while the baby whales grow enough to make the long migration north. The baby whale would also come to the surface more often than his mother to take a breath. Our zodiac was expertly positioned to maximize our photos of these amazing creatures.

Our next stop was the Punta Delgada lighthouse where we had a delicious lunch prior to descending the sandy cliffs to admire the elephant seals. These large mammals were strewn all over the beach. They languished on the shore barking at each other. Some of the younger ones were playing hard with each other. Laying on the shore we saw pieces of seal skin, as these seals were growing so fast that the new skin pushes through the old. This molting is necessary as the rapid growth, similar to the whales, is required prior to their migration. Orcas are one of the main predators for the elephant seal, but none were present at this shallow cove. We learned that the Orcas often beach themselves in order to feed upon the seals.

On the bus ride back we spotted an owl, armadillo, and a male ostrich with several babies. Our guide told us that when two males would fight for dominance the victor would take all the babies with him. We returned to our B&B for our last night, staying in for pizza after our long day of adventure.

Our final day we had the morning free prior to our late night flight. While some had hoped to go kayaking, the winds were too strong, so we all walked to town. We were able to walk to town by way of the beach which surrounds the harbor. It was quiet and not at all crowded, with many children playing soccer. Once in town, we located the post office to mail some postcards and had the pleasure of standing in line for close to 45 minutes. The US Postal Service never looked better. Afterward, we had lunch at a local restaurant with Steve, Kathy and Susan Thornton prior to returning to the B&B for our departure to the airport. However, upon returning, we found out that the flight had been cancelled and we would not leave for another 6 hours. While we were very glad to not be sitting in the airport waiting for such a long time to elapse, we were limited in our activities. It was a shame to waste precious time in such an incredible place, just hanging out and waiting, but the students made the best of it by continuing to suck up the bandwidth.

Some slept on the grass in the peaceful yard and others had the foresight to bring a bathing suit, so they swam in and sun bathed by the pool. Iva was trying to make the most of being on land, so she walked the 2 miles back to town with Julie Nanavati, who was the assistant librarian. We were able to find the bakery (we did share) and a few other shops open. Most were closed since it was mid-afternoon and the time that businesses closed prior to reopening for the late afternoon/ early evening. It became clear that dinner would be missed, so Susan and Meredith wandered off and found some cheese and bread for us to eat on the bus in transit. After a restful afternoon, we loaded up on our bus to head for the airport. We waited for about 2 ½ hours for the flight and during this time Meredith became increasingly ill. Something she had eaten did not agree with her and she was very sick to her stomach- NOT the way one wants to travel, but there was no choice. So feeling queasy, she boarded the plane and we headed back to Buenos Aires.

Upon arrival at midnight, the bus was missing- after the flight cancellation, we had arrived at a different airport and the bus was waiting for us there. So more waiting. When we finally did get back to the ship it was about 2 AM. While we enjoyed our time in Patagonia, travel in Argentina proved to be less predictable than we had hoped. It tests your patience and stamina, but our pleasure at seeing the unique wildlife of this region made it a special trip, well worth the inconveniences. There is still so much more to see in Patagonia that another trip will definitely be required to this arid, vast region. Next time, Iva hopes to visit the glaciers. Who wants to join me?