I SAW PENGUINS

This is a picture of me with the first Magellanic Penguin I saw. I was really excited, as you can see.

Since my last blogged I've left El Bolson and travled all the way down to The End Of The World -- the southern-most city of Ushuaia!! After spending a couple days reflecting on my time in El Bolson, and making plans for the rest of my time in SA, I decided I would make the trek down south. Before leaving El Bolson: I went to a mass at one of the Catholic churches in town. I found tahini and treated myself to tasty sandwiches. Had a memorable night in the couchsurfing house I've been staying at. 17 of us there, singing and have a good time into the night. One of my last El Bolson dairy entries included the following, "Like a vaccum, El Bolson sucks us all in. We just stay, not really knowing why -- the days pass and we are still here. Its peaceful, its tranquila. It has everything we need -- and so we stay."

Lauren and I spent a couple of days living closer to the center with a lady named Milka who I met at a yoga class. She invited us to stay with her, and fed us breakfast... the works. The great part about it is that she is the owner of one of the health food stores. So we were basically living above every bean, grain, and herb your heart could desire.

On Feb 27th I sat in an office of a bus company for about 30 minutes chatting with the guy that works there. I was trying to figure out the best plan to see everything down south and make it to Ushuaia by the 15th. In walks in Peter, who soon becomes a travel partner after realizing we are both headed to Puerto Madryn. After a final asado, and some long goodbyes, I left El Bolson the following day. Lauren and I split up for the first time in about a month and a half. My time with her will forever be fondly treasured.

Over night I went from mountainous, hippie, El Bolson... to the white sand beaches of Puerto Madryn. The town itself seems a bit unfinished. Buildings half built. Hotels with cement walls along the beach. (Not as charming as Valparaiso). Trash in various parts of the ocean, and views of coal mines from the beach. And yet, still, and nice place to spend a few days. Familes out at the beach, and a nice plaza with a feria.

Peter and I hooked up with Lilly and Athen (who I knew from the couchsurfing house). We visited EcoCentro, a really amazing museum with lots of info on the animals and plants of the area. On the 1st of March, we rented a car and drove out to the Valdes Peninsula. Desert, hardly any vegetation and very flat. At one point on the drive we could see the Golf of San Jose on one side, and Golfo Nuevo on the other. Saw a replica of the San Jose Fortress (rebuilt in 1980 because original we burnt fown by the Indians of the area) was built by the Spanish who were trying to settle here. We saw sheep and llamas. Upon arrival to Punta Norte, we saw grey foxes and armadillos!! On the coast were sea lions. These things are facinating to watch. So fun the way they walk around and rub against eachother. Now and then hopping in the water to grab food. These were the Southern Sealions. We also saw one giant Elephant Seal! I couldn't believe how big it was. They are grey and pull themselves around with there front fins. They dont move around as much as the sealions on land because they only have the front fins for movement. We waited for a couple of hours with a 3% chance of seeing an Orca (the dolfin, or killer whale that feeds on the sealions)... but nope, all I saw was a bunch of seaweed! We hopped on the road to Catela Valdes were WE SAW PENGUINS! Yeah, you read that right... i saw Magellenic Penguins. They were so cute the way they walk around, and they make this squaking noise as they lift their heads in the air. They look at you and tilt their heads from one side to another. I later learned this is because they can't see out of both eyes at once, so they are gathering all the information by turning their heads.

On the road to our campsite on the beach at Paramides (on the peninsula) we saw two ostriches running across the field! It happened there was a bikers gathering at the campsite, and there was a concert... so the evening was great fun, good people, and memorable songs being sung (like what we are pretty sure was a spanish version of Jail House Rock). The following day we returned to Puerto Madryn and relaxed a lot and recovered from our party night. Peter and I went snorkeling the next day. Didn't see any fish... haha... but lots of cool seaweed and creatures on the sea floor. We promptly enjoyed some fried squid and gelato.

Lots has happened that I could write about right now... but time and energy are not currently available. I'll so some writing when I can about my journey from Puerto Madryn to El Calafate (perito moreno glacier!), El Chalten (Fitz Roy!), and The End of the World!!! Until then, just know I'm having a good time.