Sunday March 1, 2020

This beautiful day, our second day in Puerto Madryn, starts early for our trip to see the penguins in their breeding grounds. Before I get on to this excursion and all it’s wonder I must first correct some misinformation in my last blog. Puerto Madryn is the home of some 90,000 to 100,000 thousand people rather than a million as I had thought our guide had said. At any rate, it was almost deserted when we were strolling the streets. Not many more people stirring around early this beautiful Sunday as we were headed out either.

About a dozen or so of us loaded on to each van for this quest to see the Patagonia Penguins. Years ago Warren and I were in charge of the health and well being of Taylor and Kelli for a couple of days. For entertainment we took them to see “The March of the Penguins”. As I recall they were not terribly entertained by the movie, but Warren and I enjoyed it. If you did not see that movie, the penguins endured harshly cold conditions to arrive at the same nesting place as in previous years. It was frozen tundra, bitterly cold, harsh winds, etc. As the title indicated, the penguins did the walking. Our experience was the exact opposite. After being bounced around over rub board roads in those vans for at least two hours, we arrived at an oasis-literally in the middle of a semi-desert area. Semi-desert was the description of our guide, Diego. Never been to a real desert myself, but this seemed to have all the ingredients except sand dunes. Hot, dry, only vegetation was cacti of one elk or another, hot, windy, arid expanse stretching to the sea. After a comfort stop at the oasis, we continued on for several miles down yet another rub board trail in our vans. (Gonna go out on a limb here but I’m willing to bet that the owners of said vans have ever been offered an extended warranty on those vans. Not one single phone call!) About 11:30 we arrive at the end of the road. It is summer south of the equator. The temperature was somewhere north of 96 degrees. Most all of us forsake the virtual luxury of the vans for a 1.3 mile hike to the bay. Along the trail were the penguin nests. By this time of year, the babies have all left their birthplace and headed to the cool waters. Smart creatures! Their parents, however, were still hanging around their hole in the ground home tucked carefully under the shade of a cactus completing the molting process. Amazing how well they are naturally camoflauged from predators both at sea and on land. We saw hundreds, if not thousands, of penguins either at or near their nesting place or lined up along the shore awaiting the departure of the seal cruising along looking for lunch. Their markings blended in so well with their cover, it was difficult to get a really good picture. As I walked the 1.3 miles back to our awaiting van, I gave considerable thought to who exactly was the wiser species here. All the penguins were either in the cover of vegetation or enjoying the sea breezes. Humans were walking back and forth in the noonday sun to get a glimpse of them.

After all arrived back at the van we took another equally rough road to view a sea of pebbles and a whale skeleton. This sea of pebbles was reported by Diego to be some fifty feet deep stretching for miles in either direction. The pebbles had rolled in rivers from the northern part of the Andes to the southern coast by glaciers. Quite a spectacular sight. Took a picture of Tommy at Pebble Beach.

By this time we were ready for lunch at the Oasis. While there for our comfort stop, Tommy had spotted several lambs on the fire. This was lunch. I did not overeat this day. Rather knit with their fiber than eat them. After completing our meal, we once again boarded our vans for the trip back to the ship over the same horribly rough gravel and dirt roads. Perhaps 5 miles of this day trip was on paved roads. Upon arrival back at the ship, we had approximately an hour to freshen up, grab our bags and board cushy buses to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires. Never did learn the location of the airport somewhere south of Puerto Madryn, but it seemed to be the only option. Our plane arrived in Buenos Aires about 10:45 pm. My first glimpse of Buenos Aires was magnificent. A town of over 14 million people was a sea of lights dotted with dark patches which I learned later were either parks or water was just gearing up for the dinner hour. We were all totally exhausted and barely heard anything our guide had to say. The city is indeed a sight to behold! Our hotel located in the heart of the city was exceptional. Sadly, like the city itself, we did not have time to enjoy it as we were up early Monday for our trip back to the airport for another flight to Iguazu.

That, my friends, is a story all its own.

This is someday! Treasure it! Even if it is spent in scorching heat marching across desert land to see an arctic fowl? Bird? Animal? What are penguins besides remarkable?