Next stop, penguins!!!!

Hello from Puerto Madryn which is the first big city we've been to since leaving Buenos Aires.  I am sitting in a cafe along the waterfront enjoying some "free" WiFi.  It's not totally free since I obviously cannot resist having a warm drink and maybe even a cookie.

Friday 2/18/11

We attempted to climb to Sierra La Ventana which is an 8x8 meter hole in a rock formation.  Ventana means "window."  Our best laid plans were foiled as the hike was closed due to fog.  Instead, we climbed Cerro Bahia Blanca which was supposed to take 3 hours and supposedly had "supreme" views.  The views were tolerable and it took us an hour.  Humpf.  And the most amusing part of it all was that the ranger lady wouldn't even show up to the trailhead until we changed out of our sandals and into hiking boots!!  We probably could have hiked it barefoot.

[Some neat rocks at the summit of Cerro Bahia Blana]

[More views from Cerro Bahia Blanca]

We met a guy at the "summit" who asked CG to take his picture holding his soccer team's flag.  We saw him again on the main road waiting for the public bus.  We offered him a lift into town.  Our car is kind of stuffed with equipment and clothes and food, so I apologized, claiming that we were "living" in the car.... he must have taken my broken Castellano seriously because he later pointed out a river in town we could use to bathe in.  He also told CG that women shouldn't drive, but I just feigned ignorance and bid him farewell.

From Sierra La Ventana, we continued south to El Condor and found a small, sad, and worn campground.  The place turned out to have hot showers (yeah!), a friendly manager and the right price.  CG is a pro at gathering scrap wood for cooking.  I'm a pro at driving into town to buy more wine.

Saturday 2/19/11

By daylight, El Condor turned out to be a sad but sweet seaside town.  We engaged the services of a young tourism employee who was eager to speak English and planned the day.  We briefly stopped at the world's largest parrot colony-- the birds nest in the holes in the cliffs.  We also checked out the oldest lighthouse in the region.

[The beachfront in El Condor]

[The parrot colony at El Condor]

[Oldest lighthouse]

[The light]

.... It's taking me more than 5 minutes to load each picture and I'm running out of batteries at this point, so I'll post the rest of the narrative and load the pictures when I have a better connection.

From El Condor, we continued southwest along the Rio Negro coast road which was about 200 km of unpaved roads along gorgeous ocean cliffs.  The road was like a washboard but the scenery was intensely beautiful: cliffs, oceans, and wide beaches on one side of the road and sand dunes like the Sahara on the other.  We stopped twice and took two long walks on windy deserted beaches.  CG took pictures of all of dead animals on the beach (penguins x 2, seals x 2, and several unidentifiable species of fish).  I photographed the rocks.  To each his/her own.

We spent the night at Oasis Campground in Las Grutas.  A lovely night followed by a disappointing morning!!  I couldn't use the bathroom or the showers as they were closed for cleaning!!  I want my AR$30 (USD$7.50) back!!

Sunday 2/20/11

Today we're in Puerto Madryn.  We'll spend the night on the road to the Valdez Peninsula Ecological Reserve.  Tomorrow, I have a date with sea lions and penguins (alive, I hope).