El Pingüino

Puerto Madryn is a dump of a town situated among some of South America´s richest marine-life National Parks. To the northeast is Peninsula Váldez, a land mass where the desert recedes into the ocean and wildlife abounds. On land, there are several types of hares, foxes, and llamas that wander the barren landscape, sometimes crossing over the dirt roads that provide the only means of transport in the area. Beachside, there are large colonies of sea-lions at the easternmost extremities, and offshore, Southern Right Whales come to breed in the winter.

100km to the south, Punta Tombo is known for having the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world. Guanacos (a type of llama) and humans wander among the thousands of penguins who waddle towards the beach for a quick swim. They are friendly, curious creatures that spend their days standing in large groups making vocal sounds and doing dances around one another.

Arriving in Puerto Madryn was a good feeling after the bus ride from Necochea. My head still hurt, but it was doing better now and I was able to loosely wear a hat. The hostel I had found was across the street from the ocean and near several restaurants, and the hostel itself was run by a young family with a little baby girl who was just learning to walk. They were very helpful and informed me that tours left for Punta Tombo everyday at 8am, and that it wasn´t too late to book for the morning. I did, and then made my way up to the room to set my bags down. The other three beds were already full of sleeping people so I stepped lightly. The common area was busy and I met a guy named Emmanuel from Cabo San Lucas who had just arrived on the same bus as me. We talked for a long time and I found out that he and his girlfriend are planning to open up a Scuba Dive shop in Cabo once he returns from traveling around Argentina. The day was just beginning to end, so we grabbed some food and then returned to the hostel for the night. It would be an early morning, so I didn´t stay up late.

When the shuttle arrived at 8am (which isn´t actually that early) I got on board and got my cameras ready for the day ahead. After picking up a dozen more travelers, the shuttle made its way down RN3, Argentina´s main north-south highway. The landscape was flat and barren, and the desolation of Patagonia became immediately apparent. Then the shuttle-bus started to swerve a bit. We had gotten a flat tire after only 10 minutes on the road, so we pulled over and got out while the driver changed into the spare. It would be an hour and a half before we reached Trelew, the nearest town with facilities, so I decided to catch some sleep.


When I awoke we were at a gas station/tire shop, where the guide encouraged us to grab some food for the trip while they worked out the tire situation. I bought a ham and cheese sandwich on miga bread (aside from beef, it seems that Argentina survives on ham and cheese sandwiches) and an Alfajor which is just about the tastiest cookie there could ever be. It´s basically a cookie sandwich with Dulce de Leche caramel in the middle, covered in different kinds of chocolate. I decided to start with dessert while the tires were getting switched out. We were on the road in no time.
Equally as fast, the bus began to swerve again, sending the driver into a frenzy. We made our way back to the shop where some arguing ensued and we had to get off the bus for another 30 minutes while the tire was actually fixed. We were on the road in no time. And one and a half hours later we were getting out of the bus again, but this time it was at the entrance to Punta Tombo.




































The gravel trail to the beach was filled with tourists and cameras, aiming at penguins less than 10 feet away. At first, it was hard to spot them among the brush, but after a moment there were hundreds of penguins standing around! They weren´t phased by us, and some even made their way onto the trail to get closer to the action. The guide informed us of a rule at Punta Tombo: penguins always have the right of way. It seems that this simple rule has preserved what would otherwise become an overblown tourist attraction. The best areas were down the trail near the beach, where penguins were swimming among eachother and relaxing on the pebbles.

After watching the penguins and their chicks for some time, we made our way back to the bus where we would go to Rawson, a port town with access to waters where Commerson´s dolphins could be seen. We boarded a zodiac boat and headed for deeper waters. In Argentina, the Commerson´s dolphin, with its white and black coloring, is commonly known as ¨una tonina¨. There were toninas swimming under and around our boat for quite some time, and they had no problem staying in front of the boat at full speed.



A while later we were back in Puerto Madryn in time for dinner. Emmanuel had spent the day doing the same tour as I, but in a rental car he split between himself and three other people from the hostel. The idea of renting a car seemed to be a very good idea for that sort of trip, and they seemed to have a good time. We went out for pizza and wine at a nearby restaurant and then spent the next three hours trying to figure out why Emmanuel´s debit card wouldn´t work. There is a withdrawal limit of $300 pesos, roughly $100US, and it turns out that Emmanuel had gone to every bank in town trying to get more than the limit out. This resulted in his bank putting a hold on his card, and as it was a Saturday night, he would be penny-less until Monday morning. So, we each lent him a bit of money so he could participate in the activites until he could pay us back. He did in full, and then offered a place to stay if we were ever in Cabo San Lucas.

The Dutch couple that Emmanuel had rented the car with were very nice as well, and they even offered me a spot in the car the following day to Peninsula Váldez. Maurits lives in Amsterdam where he works as a debate organizer, and his girlfriend Iris lives nearby in Utrecht. We all decided that for the next leg of our trip we´d travel together, and twenty-four hours later we were headed for Ushuaia at the end of the world.

Travelers are generous people even if they only have a bag full of things to their name at any given point. Everyone seems to have been in those tight spots before, and they know how to exercise sympathy when they see a fellow traveler in the same bind. At times generosity comes in forms other than money, and friendships emerge in the most unforseen ways. In a matter of two days, I had gone from traveling alone to traveling with three like-minded travelers headed for the southernmost city on the planet. We would have to cross thousands of miles of desolation to get there, but none of seemed to mind that much. Outside the bus was a beautiful sunset.

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