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Published: January 24th 2007
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Well after saying goodbye to my mom and Scott, Laurence and I embarked on a new chapter of this adventure, heading cross country to the Atlantic and then onwards to Mendoza to return our rental truck before heading north into Bolivia. It was a great 4 weeks with my parents in Argentina and one that will provide dinner table stories for years to come. All in all, the road trip went well with little problems and only an occasional visit by a grumpy ogre... once or twice at most.
Heading East we crossed Argentina on a provincial dirt road that afforded amazing views of the surrounding Patagonian landscape. Rainclouds filtered the sun and dusted the rolling hills with prisms of light all along the way, something truly spectacular. After three hours we finally encountered tarmac and made our way to our next destination, the newly created Monte Leon National Park, a former sheep estancias on the Atlantic coast. Having read about this park in our guide book, we hoped to see the supposedly impressive La Olla a grotto in the ocean only seen at low tides, but were disappointed to find that the next low tide was not until the
Pengiuns
Mother and chicks next evening, some things will be missed on trips like this. Deciding to camp in the park nevertheless, we enjoyed walking along the rocky beach and taking in the ocean breeze, sounds and smells for the first time in months not to mention a little Baileys to warm the soul. The ocean is a force that I miss when away from it and definitely appreciate when I can visit it.
The next morning we awoke to grunting beast, snorting and scratching around the tent. Shaking Laurence awake I asked if she heard the noise? Open eyed, a ly serious she said, they sounded carnivorous. I added, hungry too! However no meat eating creature awaited us when we poked our head out of the tent, just a grazing pack of cinnamon coloured guanacos who had forgotten that this was our campsite for the moment.
Packing up our gear we headed to the penguin breeding beach where there was supposedly 60,000 individuals and chicks living. The info was right and after a 3 km hike down to the beach from the gate we were greeted by thousands of honking and waddling penguins with their fluffy grey chicks. My cousin Kyle
Birds of the pampas
There are so many cool birds down here (scott photo) would have loved the place as they were literally tens of thousands of penguins filling our sights.
After enjoying this spectacle completely alone, without tourists buses or snapping pictures to ruin the moment we headed back to the truck, knowing that we were very far south and needed to get north , some 3500km sooner or later.
Driving through the pampas was typical and soon we found ourselves passing through the large industrial town of Comodoro Rivadivia, on our way to the tourist town of Puerto Madryn and the UNESCO Valdez peninsula, a place I had visited in September to see the Southern Right Whales.
We arrived at 11pm, having pushed our day past the 12 hour mark and thousand kms. We rolled into town and found that it was full for the night, not even a camping spot to pop a tent on. Oh the joy of sleeping in the truck. Starting off by parking at the local viewpoint, it quickly became apparent that this may be the spot where people came to finish the night, drinking beers and listening to music, something I had occasionally done in Vancouver. Moving the truck after only 30 minutes
Birds of the pampas
Another pair of unknown birds (scott photo) of sleep, now nearly 1am, I drove a little ways down the road and parked the truck in a vacant little strip of pavement along an empty road near the beach. Wow, can I ever be wrong, and when I am it can be so wrong.
Turns out that shortly after I fell asleep the ´secret´ nightclub opened its doors for the night and soon, my empty road was filled with loud partymakers passing my door and the ever present thump of Latino beats shaking me from sleep every 5 minutes or so. Instead of finding a quiet place to sleep for the night, I had probably found the worst place and by the time morning arrived, the truck parked diagonally across 3 or 4 hidden parking spots was surrounded by parked cars and drunks, oh the joy of sleeping in the truck. Needless to say, Laurence took it like a champ and managed to sleep a little, while I was utterly exhausted after a day of driving and little. Even so, we headed into the Valdez Peninsula at 5am hoping to catch the high tide and a chance to see the famous Patagonian orcas who surge onto the
Santa Rosa
Great looking Gaucho Mosaic rocky beaches in hopes of prying a fat little sea lion for breakfast. One mistake turned into two , as my info that high tide was at 7am was only good for Puerto Madryn and in fact high tide on the point would not be until 11am. Taking my lumps, I headed to the truck and tried to sleep a little in eager anticipation of an orca sighting.
No surprises, the elusive orcas did not present themselves on this day, however we returned to town knowing that we had done everything in our power to see them… maybe next time. Tomorrow we head north again, with the goal of Mendoza in 2 or 3 days. Hopefully, there will not be another night in the truck next to the world´s most annoying disco…fingers crossed.
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mormor
non-member comment
hallo
Hey Laurence and Jason, nice to hear from your end of the world, keep enjoying your trip. hope the weather is good. we enjoy reading about your trip. love mormor and morfar. take care.