Bumps in the Road, Part II

Jackpot!

Although Chile Chico and Los Antiguos are only about 5 km apart, you can definitely tell they're in different countries.  Chilean cities are usually built around a central plaza, while Argentine cities tend to sprawl out in random directions.  Argentina has nicer cars, Audis and VWs instead of the rowdy Mazda trucks and 4WD vans favored by the Chileans.  And there are also ATMS which accept Visa cards, meaning we could finally continue our trip fully funded.

From Los Antiguos we were able to catch a bus the same day towards Puerto Deseado on the Atlantic coast.  It was a large double decker bus with seats that reclined and TV screens that didn't work - pretty much the lap of luxury as far as we were concerned.  The comfortable ride made up for the dreary scenery.  Central Argentina is kind of like Wyoming or North Dakota, and not the pretty parts.  The wide open flatlands of scrubby brush were dotted with oil derricks, utilitarian little concrete towns, and  the occasional herd of sheep.  Everything would have been fine, except that we misunderstood which stop we were supposed to get off at and ended up an hour and a half farther than needed, missing our bus in the process.  After a night short of sleep in an overpriced hotel, we reached our destination the next day around noon.

Puerto Deseado was first visited by Magellan in 1520, and also featured in Charles Darwin's explorations.  Since then, it's become a typical sprawling town with a defunct train station and a church that also served as a light house.  Finding a suitable place to sleep was somewhat challenging and involved a two mile trek out of town to a reasonably sheltered campground, which is key in a place with incessant winds.  The reason we'd come all this way to a seemingly bereft spot was what lay beyond the shore.  25 km to the south was Reserva Provincial Isla Pinguinos which, true to its name, was home to about 30,000 nests of penguins.  Real, live, penguins.  How could we resist that?

The guest list of our expedition covered four continents: two Argentine guides, two Australians, a South African, three Brazilians, and us.  We headed out around 11:30 in a bright yellow Zodiac, with the sun glinting off the brilliantly clear blue water and the wind surprisingly calm.  Not even five minutes out of port we spotted a pair of Commerson's dolphins speeding through the waves towards us.  They swam circles around the small boat, their white sides glowing through the water, before continuing on to something more exciting.

Commerson's Dolphin

We were already incredibly excited when I sighted another two fins slicing through the water.  The skipper quickly turned the boat around to see two Peale's Dolphins, larger and grayer than their cousins, coming up fast.  Within minutes they were joined by another two or three Commerson's, and we were beside ourselves watching them zip under the bow and surface right alongside us.  I was so excited that I couldn't even handle taking pictures, grinning from ear to ear and absolutely giddy with childlike glee.

Peale's Dolphins

I don't even know how long we spent with the dolphins - fifteen, twenty minutes?  Whenever they moved on, so did we, heading towards some small rocky islands to experience the local sea lion population.  They sound like an old man getting out of bed, growling and grumping and harrumphing, and they smell like a fish sauce factory.  There were several harems of females with large alpha males to guard each one, and there was even a newly born pup, the same dark color as the rocks.

Sea lion rookery

Next stop was Isla Pinguinos, where we were greeted with the smell of rotting fish and decomposing bodies. But I don't think anyone noticed because we were surrounded by Magellanic penguins, chicks and adults, lying, standing, and waddling around.  These were the penguins I had seen at the zoo growing up, right there in front of me going about their business.  It was completely wild and totally exhilarating.

Magellanic penguins

Our guides laid out lunch before we hiked over the island to the colony of rock hopper penguins.  This is the northern most population and also the most accessible.  True to their name, they do indeed hop from rock to rock up the rugged shore to reach their nests and chicks.  We got to hang out for over an hour and watch them launch out of the ocean, rinse off in tide pools, and preen each other.  As goofy as they are on land, they're equally as graceful as any seal or dolphin in the water.

Rock hopper penguins

Eventually, of course, we had to bid farewell to the penguins and sea lions and skuas and head back to town.  For the perfect ending to the perfect day, Carl and I visited the restaurant Puerto Cristal for an amazing sea food smorgasbord.  Some lucky guessing and menu roulette netted us some pan fried calamari to start, then a plate of clams smothered in a creamy sauce for Carl and a bowl full of rice topped with a tomato-based stew of clams, mussels, shrimp, and fish for me.  We were in such culinary heaven we didn't even need dessert.

The next morning we had to rise at 2:00 in order to make the hour trek to the bus stop for our 4:00 AM bus.  There were a surprising number of people out at that hour, mostly young teenagers with nothing better to do. From there we slept most of the way back to Los Antiguos, making our connection this time, and crossing the border without incident.  One more night in Chile Chico, then the 8:00 AM ferry across Lago General Carrera.  The wind nearly blew us off the deck but we did get to see the whole mountain range.  Cerro Castillo was out to welcome us back.

The Cerro Castillo range from Lago General Carrera