Puerto Deseado

I'm currently in Bariloche, a touristy town gateway to Nahuel Huapi National Par with plenty of outdoor activities. The architecture of wood and stone give it a Swiss alps feel. We are staying in the Condor de Los Andes hostel downtown close to the plaza which holds different events, most recently an antique car show.

Last week was full of traveling and exploring Puerto Deseado, the farthest south we are going on this trip. This small fishing city lies on the Atlantic coast. We took a boat excursion to Penguin Island, a small island inhabited by magellanic and rock hopper penguins, and other sea birds. This area is prone to extreme weather and we were warned that we would have to leave if the wind picked up. Sure enough we had to leave early and had to battle massive waves. The guides decided it was too dangerous so we docked on a spit of land far away from town.for several hours we waited for the wind to die down, there was even talk of us having to stay the night where we were. This was the first time this has happened on one of their tours and we handled it very well by exploring the surrounding the area, writing in our field journals and napping. Eventually we headed out in the craziest boat ride ive ever experienced. The waves were still pretty large so we often jumped off of waves, flying through the air and landing really hard. We had a hell of a good holler on this bumpy ride and were thankful to make it back to land alive. Needless to say, they felt bad that happened so they took us out on another boat ride up the Ria Deseado to observe marine mammals.

On my birthday, 23 de Noviembre, we took our rental cars into an area called Reserva De Ria Deseado where Darwin once explored it's canyon walls and valleys. We found a large cave to have lunch in with alfajores and mimosas for desert. I was also sharing a birthday with my classmate Sam. After this we did a plant survey then headed back to our camp. We stayed at a locals home that they sometimes have people camp on their property and host dinners. Their property was beautiful, right by the river and next to a small lake home to flamingos and other birds. We provided the food and they cooked us an asado of chorizo, grilled corn, papas, different meat portions, and plenty of malbec wine and cervesa. Our host played the accordion and his friend played a card trick and they told plenty of stories. We danced and sang into the early morning. This was a very memorable birthday, what an amazing experience!

We also visited Cabo Blanco lighthouse then I drove our crew back to Rivadavia where we then took a bus and 17 hour train ride to Bariloche. The train was super antigua with plenty of dust flying around. Seats of two could turn around completely and the bathroom toilets had a tube headed straight out onto the tracks. We had an awesome dinner and watched a movie in a small theatre!

I'm so happy now that I'm clean and well rested, traveling that much was taking a toll on everyone. I will be downloading photos soon!