Fauna of Puerto Madryn
I just read what I wrote before (I didn't have the chance to write more that day) and the reason it's so ungrammatical is that I wrote it just after I woke up (without even brushing my teeth first). I was using the computer at the hostal and usually there are people in line to use it so I though I would beat the crowd and get to it before they all wake up. And I did! however, I was still in the arm of Morpheus... So I thought I saw a cow in the desert from a distance but it was actually a dog. And vice versa. And please pardon the grammar.
When I woke up from my nap the first day of my being here (I don't know what day it was or what day it is today - it's hard to keep track of time here...) I went to the beach and first walked on the boardwalk and then on the sand, breathing in the salty air and picking up stones. Slowly, one-by-one eight dogs joined me for a walk and they were chasing each other, chasing me, and playing in all the dogs' ways. They were all town dogs taking a stroll on the beach and looking for company to have fun. At the end of the walk there were only two dogs left and at that time a very elegant female pitbull came, dressed in a yellow polar fleece vest. The three dogs started playing and one of "my" dogs slowly, however not gracefully, undressed the pitbull and happy for getting the trofeo of the day started running around me. The pitbull's owner came over running and started chasing the dog (I told her the more she runs after him the further he will go but she didn't listen) who with a mischevious smile went into the water with it and dipped it a few times... I was laughing... Eventually he gave it up but had to be chased around until he got tired of his toy. The owner of of the pitbull laughted as well at the end - it was impossible not to laugh. I got home tired playing with the dogs but I so loved it!
The next day I rented a bike and went 17 km to Punto Loma which is one of the places on the coast in which sea lions live. A dirt road along the beach and the dunes leads to it. Only a few cars passed me by during the entire ride there and back. Most of the time I was completely alone. The scenery is what I consider my favorite scenery: the endless ocean, the wide beach, dunes and no buildings or anything man-made in sight. I reached the Punto Lomo station with a park ranger and then went another 500 meters to a cliff overlooking a small beach sheltered by the rocks. Below was a colony of about 200 sea lions. There are many kinds of sea lions. If you would like to see which type this is exactly the latin name is Otaria Flavescens. They were just resting on the beach, sunbathing or playing in the water. The mothers were feeding the babies who were born in February. At one point I heard a cow-like sound from far out in the ocean and one of the babies separated itself from the crowd and started running to the water, making a very excited calf-like sounds. The mom was swimming fast and she got close to the beach at the time the baby made it to the water. The baby clung to mom and they stayed in the water for a few minutes literally hugging. They both came out, got to where the group was resting, and layed down together for a very long time... I was observing them from the cliff so I could see the life of the colony on the beach and the seals who were playing in the water and the ones who were coming from afar. I observed their life for a long long time. It was amazing. There was no one except me there and I could see their life in their natural habitat. Before I saw them in Peru in Islas Balestas but it was from a boat with a group of other people and I didn't see them so close. This encounter was much much more special. I hit the pedals to go back at dusk. I reached a beach with a wrack of a quite big boat, totally rusted, lying on its side. I was looking at the boat and then suddenly I saw a head of a sea lion popping out of the water, looking around. And then the next one, and the next one... They were playing in the water so I saw them chasing each other and diving, splashing water around. Everyone has his or her idea of heaven I think. Sitting on that beach, looking at the sea lions playing in the water at dusk is my heaven. Heaven on earth... I didn't want to leave... I always thought I belong more to the world of the animals than to the world of humans. In moments in which I am alone with them I feel in one with the universe. It is too cold to do that (it's a short autumn now, in a month it will get very cold) but if it was wormer, I would rent a tent and stay there for a few days. Because here, in South America, one can do anything one wants on the beach. Unlike on the beaches of Long Island in New York where it's forbidden to walk the dogs, put up tents, stay overnight, drink alcoholic beverages, make firecamps, and fly kites, here you can do anything you want. So if I come back here in the Patagonian summer (which starts in November) I will put up a tent, observe the sea lions, fly kites, and drink beer. And all town dogs who will care to join me are invited!
The next day Claudio and Maximilian (Argentinians from B.A. who also stayed at El Refugio) and I planned to bike to another spot 15 km away in the opposite direction to see the whales. When we woke up it turned out that the high tide, which is needed to see them from the shore, was right at that time so we went there by their car. We were waiting for them at the Punta Doradillo but we didn't see any. We were told that this is the time when they start coming for their breeding season so we may or may not have the luck of seeing them. We saw one Magellanic Penguin swimming around the rock on which we were standing. Except for one very elegant penguino we didn't see any animals but we enjoyed the beauty of the coast and the beach. Later that day we decided to go to Trelew and Gaiman (80 km from Puerto Madryn). We passed through Trelew quickly as it is a rather small city in the desert and went to Gaiman which used to be the city where Welsh settled in the 1800s. Their descendents still live there which is manifested in some Welsh-style buildings and Houses of Tea. We went to one large estancia with a House of Tea and had lots of tea, of course (in a pot covered by hand-knitted tea-warmer), and traditional Welsh scones and pastries. It comes in a package - homebaked bread, butter and preserves, and a few plates of cakes and tarts. Yum, yum, mniam, mniam. In the background there was Welsh music and on the walls there where many framed pictures of Lady Di who visited the estancia in November 1995.
Yesterday I went to Eco Centro which is a wonderful building on the beach where marine life is studied. A wonderful place in a wonderful scenery. It's about 3 km from the city centre and all the way there I walked on the beach accompanied by a dog who behaved like Maksio - he was very playful, nipped at my heels, fetched whatever he found to fetch, ran after leaves. I walked 6 km but I think he made at least 20. On my way back the wind was very strong and was pushing me back... I got home and rested, really tired by the wind's force...
Today I went to Peninsula Valdes - which is another World Hertiage site. I saw sea lions, elephant seals, A WHALE, ostriches, a skunk, an owl, a few thousand sheep and some cows and horses. Another amazing day. More about it soon.
When I woke up from my nap the first day of my being here (I don't know what day it was or what day it is today - it's hard to keep track of time here...) I went to the beach and first walked on the boardwalk and then on the sand, breathing in the salty air and picking up stones. Slowly, one-by-one eight dogs joined me for a walk and they were chasing each other, chasing me, and playing in all the dogs' ways. They were all town dogs taking a stroll on the beach and looking for company to have fun. At the end of the walk there were only two dogs left and at that time a very elegant female pitbull came, dressed in a yellow polar fleece vest. The three dogs started playing and one of "my" dogs slowly, however not gracefully, undressed the pitbull and happy for getting the trofeo of the day started running around me. The pitbull's owner came over running and started chasing the dog (I told her the more she runs after him the further he will go but she didn't listen) who with a mischevious smile went into the water with it and dipped it a few times... I was laughing... Eventually he gave it up but had to be chased around until he got tired of his toy. The owner of of the pitbull laughted as well at the end - it was impossible not to laugh. I got home tired playing with the dogs but I so loved it!
The next day I rented a bike and went 17 km to Punto Loma which is one of the places on the coast in which sea lions live. A dirt road along the beach and the dunes leads to it. Only a few cars passed me by during the entire ride there and back. Most of the time I was completely alone. The scenery is what I consider my favorite scenery: the endless ocean, the wide beach, dunes and no buildings or anything man-made in sight. I reached the Punto Lomo station with a park ranger and then went another 500 meters to a cliff overlooking a small beach sheltered by the rocks. Below was a colony of about 200 sea lions. There are many kinds of sea lions. If you would like to see which type this is exactly the latin name is Otaria Flavescens. They were just resting on the beach, sunbathing or playing in the water. The mothers were feeding the babies who were born in February. At one point I heard a cow-like sound from far out in the ocean and one of the babies separated itself from the crowd and started running to the water, making a very excited calf-like sounds. The mom was swimming fast and she got close to the beach at the time the baby made it to the water. The baby clung to mom and they stayed in the water for a few minutes literally hugging. They both came out, got to where the group was resting, and layed down together for a very long time... I was observing them from the cliff so I could see the life of the colony on the beach and the seals who were playing in the water and the ones who were coming from afar. I observed their life for a long long time. It was amazing. There was no one except me there and I could see their life in their natural habitat. Before I saw them in Peru in Islas Balestas but it was from a boat with a group of other people and I didn't see them so close. This encounter was much much more special. I hit the pedals to go back at dusk. I reached a beach with a wrack of a quite big boat, totally rusted, lying on its side. I was looking at the boat and then suddenly I saw a head of a sea lion popping out of the water, looking around. And then the next one, and the next one... They were playing in the water so I saw them chasing each other and diving, splashing water around. Everyone has his or her idea of heaven I think. Sitting on that beach, looking at the sea lions playing in the water at dusk is my heaven. Heaven on earth... I didn't want to leave... I always thought I belong more to the world of the animals than to the world of humans. In moments in which I am alone with them I feel in one with the universe. It is too cold to do that (it's a short autumn now, in a month it will get very cold) but if it was wormer, I would rent a tent and stay there for a few days. Because here, in South America, one can do anything one wants on the beach. Unlike on the beaches of Long Island in New York where it's forbidden to walk the dogs, put up tents, stay overnight, drink alcoholic beverages, make firecamps, and fly kites, here you can do anything you want. So if I come back here in the Patagonian summer (which starts in November) I will put up a tent, observe the sea lions, fly kites, and drink beer. And all town dogs who will care to join me are invited!
The next day Claudio and Maximilian (Argentinians from B.A. who also stayed at El Refugio) and I planned to bike to another spot 15 km away in the opposite direction to see the whales. When we woke up it turned out that the high tide, which is needed to see them from the shore, was right at that time so we went there by their car. We were waiting for them at the Punta Doradillo but we didn't see any. We were told that this is the time when they start coming for their breeding season so we may or may not have the luck of seeing them. We saw one Magellanic Penguin swimming around the rock on which we were standing. Except for one very elegant penguino we didn't see any animals but we enjoyed the beauty of the coast and the beach. Later that day we decided to go to Trelew and Gaiman (80 km from Puerto Madryn). We passed through Trelew quickly as it is a rather small city in the desert and went to Gaiman which used to be the city where Welsh settled in the 1800s. Their descendents still live there which is manifested in some Welsh-style buildings and Houses of Tea. We went to one large estancia with a House of Tea and had lots of tea, of course (in a pot covered by hand-knitted tea-warmer), and traditional Welsh scones and pastries. It comes in a package - homebaked bread, butter and preserves, and a few plates of cakes and tarts. Yum, yum, mniam, mniam. In the background there was Welsh music and on the walls there where many framed pictures of Lady Di who visited the estancia in November 1995.
Yesterday I went to Eco Centro which is a wonderful building on the beach where marine life is studied. A wonderful place in a wonderful scenery. It's about 3 km from the city centre and all the way there I walked on the beach accompanied by a dog who behaved like Maksio - he was very playful, nipped at my heels, fetched whatever he found to fetch, ran after leaves. I walked 6 km but I think he made at least 20. On my way back the wind was very strong and was pushing me back... I got home and rested, really tired by the wind's force...
Today I went to Peninsula Valdes - which is another World Hertiage site. I saw sea lions, elephant seals, A WHALE, ostriches, a skunk, an owl, a few thousand sheep and some cows and horses. Another amazing day. More about it soon.
posted by Asia Kabat at 4:04 PM
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