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Published: December 23rd 2008
As you travel through South America you are constantly on what is termed the "Gringo Trail." There is a steady stream of travelers heading to the exact same cities in the same order for nearly the same amount of time. Yeah, some people have to move faster, others take their time, some people skip cities, but in general the trail is well worn by everyone, like it or not. You are constantly running into the same people time and again, it gets to be pretty ridiculous at times. There are a few places where you can get off the beaten path (e.g. taking a rental car down Ruta 40), and Puerto Deseado was definitely one of those places. (By the way, this is only the third travelblog ever on the city, which makes me feel a little special!) The Rio Deseado gives way to the ocean allowing sea water to go 40 kilometers inland. This provides shelter to a large number of animals and makes for an amazing natural marine park. Furthermore, there is the only accessible Rockhopper penguin colony in the Americas just off shore. How it isnt on the "trail" boggles my mind, as it was one of the
most amazing places Ive seen, but all the better for us!
We got into town and started looking for a tour to take us out to Isla de los Penguinos. We found Darwin Expeditions after a half hour walk out of town and luckily for us they had a tour the next day. We later found out they average only one every ten days! We left early the next morning on a rather small boat with about twelve other people and we didnt see a single other person for the rest of the day. On the way out we saw plenty of albatross (Erics favorite animal, the grandest of all sea birds, and the main character in one of our best brain teasers) and swung by a sea lion colony. They are amazing animals to watch as they are so elegant in the water but incredibly clumsy on land. They were falling all over each other as some scrambled to the water and others simply looked up, inspecting us quizzically, then going right back to sunning themselves. The bulls, which are larger than I had ever thought, had several females to themselves and were the most uninterested in our
passing boat. It was the beginning of me snapping photos like a mad man and continued for the rest of the day (nearly 300 in all).
Shortly thereafter we were dropped off on the rocky shore of Isla de los Penguinos. As we walked to the spot that would be our base for the day, I almost stepped directly on a penguin nesting; I had no clue that we were going to get that close and that they simply dont care. From then on I was must more aware of my footing! We hung out around the Magellanic colonies that cover the island before heading over the top of the island, past the abandoned lighthouse, and onwards to the Rockhopper colony. Ive been infatuated with Rockhoppers since I was young and did a presentation on them in grade school. They are about knee height with the classic black body with white belly. However, they have neon yellow and orange tufts of hair spurting out of the top of their heads like a halo; imagine a cross between Larry from the Three Stooges and Dennis Rodman. They also have the most intense red eyes without a hint of an iris,
giving them an incredibly angered look. We spent well over an hour just sitting around observing their behaviors. They have the goofiest waddle, hopping between rocks with their head hunched over, and getting snapped at by the resting penguins as they make their way. We witnessed several fights over that period of time, and the penguins would occasionally make squawks, flapping their wings in some sort of territorial show (or so I presume). It was probably one of the best single hours of my life.
We walked from there to a sea lion and elephant seal colony on the far shore of the island. Along the way there were birds that would swoop down at you, dive bombing like a Kamikaze pilot until the last second when it would pull up, nearly grazing your skull and leaving you freaked out ducking for your life looking like an idiot. We all made it safely to the colony, and spent some time getting a closer look at the monstrously sized bull sea lions. They gave us a little glance, minorly interested in us, and then most just went back to the nothing they were doing before our arrival. However, a few
got a little spooked when Eric, the enormous intimidating giant he is, stood up on the rock outcropping and there was a stampede of around fifty of 800 pound giants awkwardly scrambling on their fins for the sea.
After this we headed back for the boat and had a foggy ride back towards shore. However, as we were commenting on how amazing the trip had been at that point, we were surrounded by half a dozen Peales dolphins. They swam around our boat playing around the bow, breaking the surface and just being the typical jovial animals that everyone loves. After about thirty minutes of this, and after a thorough soaking from the wet seas, we made it into the shore where the fog gave way and we had a visit from Commerson dolphins. These are dolphins are half white and half black with clearly defined lines of separation in their colors giving them a very snappy (cant think of a better adjective) look, kind of like an orca. Finally, after a day of penguins, sea lions, seals, numerous sea birds, and dolphins we were coming to shore. However, Burton (or more accurately our guide) gave us all a
little bit of humor for good measure. We had been arguing (an uncommon event for me) about whether the birds we were seeing in the water were penguins or a different sort of acuatic sea bird. I had bet him a beer that they were Magellanic penguins. To get a definitive answer Burton decided to ask the guide.
"Are those penguins or birds?" To which the guide responded.
"Penguins are birds." There was an unspoken "You stupid f"#$%& idiot." tagged on to the end of it. (If youve ever seen Mallrats, it was a near identical scene to the three D poster, "A schooner is a sailboat, dumby head." Except Burton didnt tell the kid that Santa didnt exist and that that man in the mall was just a fat guy in a suit.) We all got a good laugh. Burtons stupid questions are starting to take on mythical proportions. (Burton´s edit: I only provided the humor because I knew it would help Kyle get his mind off the poor sea sickness.) (Kyle´s edit: What can I say? I vomit easily at sea.)
We took a night bus up to Puerto Madryn that evening. The main attraction is
the migration of the Southern Right Whale where you can get extremely close to these colossal creatures as they rest in the warm waters of the area. They give birth and raise their young calves in the area from the months of September to early December in the area, so sadly we were just at the end of the season and there were only a few whales around. So, given that Drew and Eric see whales all the time in Hawaii, and that Ive seen them there and intend to move to the Northwest, where whales arent that uncommon either, we decided to skip out on that activity. You can also go and check out sea lions, seals and penguins at the nearby nature reserves, but we had already had enough of that. So, we sat our behinds on the beach for a day getting thoroughly sun burnt and enjoying a relaxing day of absolutely nothing. The next day the other three went scuba diving with sea lions. (I unfortunately, cant scuba because I was born with some of the worst ears ever to grace a human being. Two surgeries on both ears as a child and three broken ear
A big bull
These guys were enormous; they can get over 800 pounds!drums, one caused by an overly competitive ski boat driving father, leaves me with painful ears when I go to the bottom of a ten foot pool. Anyway, Ill let these guys tell about the diving.)
(Erics edit: We had expected to dive with sea lions literally until the moment we jumped in the water with nothing but a snorkel mask on, but as it turned out (which we werent informed of the day before at the dive shop), snorkeling with the sea lions is a much better experience than diving with them, as they are far more interactive at the surface of the water. So it was all for the best that we actually only snorkeled with them, and didnt get to dive. As Kyle mentioned, they are incredibly graceful animals in the water. Twirling forwards, backwards, left and right and momentarily pausing their underwater acrobatics to swim inches from our faces and stare right into our eyes. They are incredibly friendly and curious animals. For the entire 30 minutes we were in the water, we were surrounded by them on all sides and they would take turns brushing up against us, nibbling on our fins or hands
(they use their mouths to investigate, as we learned from our dive master), and even on a few occassions kissing you right on the nose. Maybe I sound too excited about kissing a sea lion, but it was an absolutely incredible and unforgettable experience. After swimming with the sea lions, we motored the boat to a nearby wreck called The Folias. This was the first time Drew or I had ever dived a wreck site and the first time for all three of us to dive in cold water conditions. This totally new diving experience for all of us did not disappoint. The ship sank 30 years ago which has provided ample time for every inch of the ships surface area to grow over with varieties of sea weeds, sea anemones, mussels and beautiful jellyfish polyps. We first did a lap around the outside of the 75 meter boat before heading through the many caverns of the ships interior. Despite there being no fish in the water, the water was heavily populated with beautiful jellyfish. This particular species was harmless, which allowed us to cup the fist sized jellies in our hands and hold them right up against our masks.
Under close inspection, these jellies had ridges along their their bodies running from top to bottom that lit up with bioluminescence. It was absolutely amazing as they emitted a full spectrum of color across their bodies, as though they were wearing Christmas lights. All in all, it was a great day and good to be back in the ocean at last, even if it wasnt the warm waters of Kauai).
After that, we headed off the bus station for our seventeen hour ride to Buenos Aires. It went off beautifully; we are becoming pros at these long hauls and actually look forward to doing nothing but sitting in a lazy boy sized chair for an entire day watching movies and listening to music. The next morning we pulled into Buenos Aires and began enjoying the city life again. More on that later though.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS
MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! Hope all is well on your trip, is there any snow near by or did you need me to send you a package from CO?!