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Published: November 28th 2009
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While resting up and taking in the sights of Santiago, the capital of Chile, we learned that November is a good time of year to go whales watching in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina. This meant instead of heading south through Chile we would meander back across the continent once more. Plans are made for changing! We made a quick check of bus routes and timetables: it is possible to go from Santiago to Puerto Madryn with only one change of bus in Mendoza. We settled on leaving Santiago in two days time.
Santiago is a very likeable city, safe to walk around most areas under the sun and even the centre is quite safe under moonlight. It's a mix of modern day skyscrapers and old European style buildings. Power suits mingle with sandals and shorts on midweek city centre streets. There is an extensive subway system, but rush hour is chaotic. Even though there was a train every three minutes, it took Jessica and I two hours before we could squeeze on with our backpacks!
We couldn't leave without a day trip out to the Concha y Toro winery. It is one of the oldest
and largest in Chile. In Ireland we had drank its Casillero del Diablo label many times. The popular label is so called because in the early years the founder of the winery suspected local staff were stealing his bottles of tasty wine. He hatched a cunning plan and began to spread a rumour around the area: the Devil himself had been seen in the depths of the cellar. Rumour became fact and entered every household. Some people even claimed they had seen the Devil down there! Not another bottle was stolen and so began the legend, giving birth to the name of the wine, Casillero del Diablo (the Devil's Cellar).
On our last day, we visited the city of Valparaiso. The port is surrounded by hills which are hidden beneath a city of multicoloured wooden and corrugated iron buildings, like a child had built a city of lego. Really steep footpaths and strange lifts ferried people up and down the hills. Picture a garden shed on wheels! We stood on one of Valparaiso's streets, high on a hilltop pushing against the winds of the Pacific Ocean. Thirty three hours by bus would place us on the east coast of
Argentina and the winds of the Atlantic Ocean.
The eight hours drive across the Andes past the highest peak in the Americas (Aconcagua at 6962m) was pure pleasure. I put my seat back, turned on my MP3, took in the spectacular views and just let the mind wander.
The next bus ride was a complete and utter contrast. We headed south through the vineyards of Central Mendoza (which we plan on returning to in January to sample some wines). Then turning south east through La Pampa and northern Patagonia, the land was barren. Not a mountain or hill in sight. Not the slightest bump on the horizon. Roads as straight as a laser beam seemed to dissolve into the clouds in the distance. The soil gave life only to shrubs, tough grass and the odd bunch of trees planted to shelter a home from the non-stop strong winds sweeping across the open plains. Hour after hour of barren emptiness. A sea of browns. It's a lonely place out there.
A freezing cold Atlantic wind greeted us as we got off the bus in Puerto Madryn. The town was founded by Welsh settlers in 1886 - I have
no idea why!
Two lie-ins later our batteries were charged and we bound for Peninsula Valdes. This wildlife reserve is home to guanacos (a strange looking animal - I'm thinking a sheep may have had a relationship with a giraffe somewhere down the line!), penguins, seabirds, elephant seals, sea lions, killer whales and the friendlier Southern Right Whale.
Puerto Piramides is the only village on the Peninsula. There is one street, a small port and about 200 residents. We found a little cheap apartment for two days. When all the tour buses leave, it is quite a nice place to walk around in the evening.
It was touch and go if the weather would settle for us. The clouds were dark and grey, like woodsmoke hemmed in by a ceiling. Regardless at 7 o'clock the next morning, we got the go-ahead. Along with twenty-five other hopeful whale watchers we floated out to the Golfo Nuevo. Only the sound of the motor could be heard as everyone scanned the water for signs of life. Nothing.
So the guide proceeded in telling us about the Southern Right Whale. They come to the shallow warm waters in spring to
breed and give birth. They weigh more than 27 tonnes (think five elephants) and average about 12 metres in length. The guide was making a joke about females being larger than males when all of a sudden a whale breached about twenty metres away from the boat and greeted us with a loud blast of his blow-hole. It is a sound I don't think I have ever heard before. Hot wet air and snot released through a pressure valve high into the salty air.
Everyone got very excited. An American guy in front of us couldn't help himself: "There she blows!".
The boat made its way slowly towards the whale, when another one appeared not ten metres from the boat. The engine was switched off immediately. The whale swam around the boat and under it, giving us the once over. To my absolute shock and amazement, the enormous whale came right up to the boat, about two feet from the side. The whale posed for five minutes, then before disappearing it let off a blast of hot air, covering Jessica and a few others in snot. I really liked this whale!!!!!!
We noticed other whales nearby, one
about thirty metres away and another to the left of the others. There was a bird following one of the whales.The bird was hovering about five feet above the whale. When the whale dived, the bird would land on the water. A few minutes later the whale would come bursting through the water nose first right beneath the bird, lifting the bird and making it take flight. This happened again and again. A little bird and a 12 metre whale playing with each other. Friendship knows no boundaries.
We were offered a seat on the next boat out that day for half price. At €12 each, not a moment was lost in signing up.
This time the weather improved and the waters were calmer. We left at noon to a different area. We saw two whales in the distance, then followed a mother and calf closely for twenty minutes or so. Their jet black skin shined in the sun like a soldier's well polished boot. Their heads were covered with clusters of white parasites that looked like giant callouses. A beautiful body cursed with an ugly head. Jessica and I felt privileged to witness such creatures.
Next
on the nature trail was Punta Tombo, 100km south, to see the continent's largest nesting area of penguins. Over half a million according to the information signs. The colony is so big some nests are over 2km from the sea.
We spent three hours walking amongst the nests, watching the penguins arrive from the sea after feeding, then walking up the beach to the hills where the nests lay. Males and females take equal turns guarding the eggs. We witnessed an armadillo sneaking around the nests trying to steal an egg, but the penguins fought it off.
The best bit about penguins is of course the walk. They look so awkward and funny. It was a great laugh watching a penguin come to the path, stop, wait for the tourist to stop and give way. When the penguin was sure the tourist knew the rules of the road, he would waddle across the path and go about his business. But as soon as it enters water, the clumsy looking penguin turns into a torpedo.
Nature really is fascinating.
From James
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Gay Hoban
non-member comment
Whales, penguins and other creatures
A privilege to be there and an even bigger privilege to read about ot. Love from Gay xx