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Published: December 18th 2010
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Having passed our Spanish course (with a certificate and everything), we are now completely fluent in the language and therefore the rest of this blog will be in Spanish, not English. Bueno…... Or maybe not; the course was good but not good enough to overcome our ignorance and lack of ability. It’s going to be a long time until we are conversant with the locals. We had just enough time before leaving Bariloche to spend a day horseriding. Initially it seemed like it was going to be a long day of sore backsides and insect bites, made especially difficult by the fact that we were nursing hangovers. But it turned out to be a brilliant day when the horses went a bit faster (felt like a gallop, was actually a trot), and then half submerged themselves in the crystal clear waters of Lago Guiterrez, with us still on top.
We had spent around 10 days in Bariloche so it was time to move on and we took the 6.30am bus south to El Chalten, along the infamous Ruta 40. This road spans most of the length of Argentina and for vast amounts is little more than a gravel track. The chips
and cracks on the bus’s windscreen bore testament to the harshness of the road and it was a long 24hr, bumpy and noisy ride. For the most part all you can see along the route is the vast flatness of the Patagonian steppe, but the occasional wildlife is worth keeping an eye out for; we were lucky enough to spot guanacos, rheas, wild horses and flamingos.
El Chalten is a little village whose backdrop is the impressive Fitz Roy mountain range, a vista of snowcapped mountains and enormous granite pinnacles. It also has some very unpredictable weather and some seriously strong winds funnelling down the valley from the mountains. At times the weather was very reminiscent of back home but we still did some amazing hikes and made the most of the surroundings.
After four nights in El Chalten we moved on to El Calafate to see the Perrito Moreno glacier. It is one of the only glaciers in the world which is actively advancing, a phenomenon which remains unexplained given that most are retreating due to climate change. This means that giant chunks of ice regularly break off into the lake, with huge crashes and waves the result. It
is a fantastic site: the glacier is enormous and the towering ice cliffs at its snout are truly awe-inspiring. The only down side is that the national park authorities have seen fit to construct row after row of wooden platforms and walkways to keep all the tourists hemmed in. It really detracts from the natural beauty of the glacier itself but we suppose they have to keep the masses safe.
As you may imagine all of these mountains and glaciers suggest some pretty cold weather and you would be right. We needed to leave this behind and get some sunshine so we took the bus to Puerto Madryn on the east coast of Argentina. It was a pretty bizarre journey with lots of unexplained stops to change buses or to wait while the bus got spring cleaned but we made it eventually. Puerto Madryn is just outside the Valdes Peninsula which is where they film footage of Orcas beaching themselves in order to grab unsuspecting sealion pups from the beach. It is also home to southern right whales, elephant seals, Comerson’s dolphins and Magellanic penguins so we were just a little bit excited to be there. The three days we
spent there were probably the highlight of the trips so far, the wildlife was absolutely mind-blowing.
On day 1 we watched huge right whales breaching with enormous splashes while the curious youngsters approached the boat to within touching distance to get a good look at us. Day 2 we hired a car to visit a sealion colony and watch their amazing social interaction. There were over 400 individuals in the colony and everywhere we looked there was something happening: males looking for a fight, females flirting with the males, youngsters playing in the sea or on the rocks and occasionally a sleeping sealion falling off a rock. We also visited an elephant seal colony and got within a few feet of full grown adults who were entirely unfazed by our presence on the beach with them. On Day 3 we crowned the whole experience by going snorkelling with sealions . An extremely bumpy boat trip took us out to a large colony of sealions and they seemed to be waiting for us as we prepared to get in the water. Almost immediately we were surrounded and they were all too keen to play, headbutting our facemasks, nibbling our fins and
hands, and swimming in lightning fast circles around us. They seem to be genuinely intelligent creatures and even the adult males, so aggressive on land, are as curious and playful as the rest. It was utterly incredible and an experience we will never forget.
All of this has tired us out (I’m sure your heart bleeds for us) and we are now on our way to Mendoza for some rest, relaxation, more sun and wine tasting.
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Laurie Warrie
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well well well
So......this is where you've been all this time! Bloody missing you both and horrified that you've left me with Lexy on my own! bad times! :) Looks like an epic trip so far and massively jelly of the orca and swimming with sea life encounters. How is Mendoza treating you? Please do the vineyard tour on bikes it is mega fun! What hostel are you staying in? Wish I was with you guys but oh how the roles have reversed and now I'm in work hell and your having continual banter! No injuries so far too i noticed.....high five though that sunburn at the start looked something chronic Robertson! Well work I must oh and if it makes you smirk I'm working Christmas eve too :) Love you both like a crazy person and hurry up and get home to me xxx