THIS IS WHAT ADULTS DO

Day 37: Currently in Puerto Madryn. Was supposed to be on a bus to Bariloche but decided to change my plans (again) at the last moment. Paid a cancellation fee and booked a bus ticket mañana for Buenos Aires again. I decided it was a waste to only give Bariloche 2-3 days. Next time, next time!

Anyway, so Puerto Madryn is a little ocean-side town close to some serious close encounters with natural marine wildlife. It´s quite fantastic, really. Here are some photos. Blah, blah.

Penguin photos taken at Punta Tombo. All others taken on Peninsula Valdez. Missed a trip to Punta Ninfa. It´s like Peninsula Valdez (minus the sea lions), but the added benefit is that you can really get literally next to an elephanat seal. Just be careful. Rent a car for a few days and drive yourself. It´s much better than a timed van-tour. Just be sure the rental agency takes credit card.

I am making this face because that little penguin just took a spurting shit.

Kicking some penguin ass.

More Magellan penguins! Yay!

Penguin ass.
I love penguins.

Eyal and Séverin. Empty beach.

More of the gang on the beach. We were attempting to get realllly close to a flock of flamingos. Unfortunately, we failed miserably. Well, pretty beach nonetheless.

Ah, sigh.

This (what the hell is it called again???) Gua...something was so friendly! Such nice fur! Now I´ve seen all the four animals in that llama family: Llama, alpaca, vicuña, and this gua..ersomething

L-t-R: Paul, Séverin, Jorden, Eyal, mutt. The four of us rented the car that got into a little car accident. We originally thought we´d have to pay $4,000 pesos. Ended up being $200 pesos. PHEW! Seriously... I was about to flip out when the stupid rental agency would not take my visa. I almost strangled Paul for getting us the one damned rental agency that doesn´t take credit card (you know, CCs cover rental damages). Thankfully, it was only $200 pesos at the end of the day.

What happened was this: unpaved road, idiot driver going 120km passed us, pebble went ker-plunk against the windshield, and etc. You get the idea. That was my second time in a police station in South America. Note for Eden: police station in Punta Piramides, Argentina infinitely better than in Tumbes, Peru... for instance: instead of a typewriter that he tapped away at, it was a computer. Same routine. Lots of typing. Not much action. Ultimately, our visit helped nothing. Ha

Cliff. Below cliff, elephant seals being lazy bums.

Hello there Miss Elephant Seal! How are you doing? Enjoying the sun??

Sea lions! Omg, they are adorable (the pups and the womens... the men are only ugly-cute). They were having a frolicking good time. We came up here hoping to view an orca coming onto the beach for some sea lion meats. After speaking to the ranger, it turns out this mostly happens in March and April. The last sighting was February 1 but our day was way too windy and unlucky. I am definitely going to come back in the hopes of viewing an orca-beach attack! Apparently this is the only place in the world where the orcas perform those beach-killings.

The whole gang, including me in the same clothes as always... but with a new bag! Heee.

So anyway, as I had been bragging in previous posts, these guys are fantastic! Séverin and Paul are cousins from Paris who´ve been out here for 10mos. They´re Spanish is good enough to pass for native Argentinians. Hanging out with them gave me a good lesson on both Spanish and good old French which I have woefully been forgetting over the years. They also complimented me on my good French accent. Merci, merci!

Then there are the Israelis, Jorden and Eyal, who are just the sweetest people e-var! They´ll be my hosts in Tel-Aviv one of these days, yessirrreee. Hopefully we can meet up again in Mendoza, but it sounds like they´ll be spending a good month down at the end of the world (tip of South America) trekking (sans guides!). I am very envious; they´ll be seeing some amazing sights few ever get to see.

This leads me to my next topic: next trip down to South America! There is so much to see and do and my short 2 months (which I once thought would be more than enough) has proven to be just an awful pittance! I am planning on coming back next year or the year after for a month JUST for southern Argentina. I think my Pops will enjoy this itinerary too since he´s been raving about going ice-trekking and whatevs.

So yes. That is the plan.

Man, there is just so much to see in the world. It´s a pity we have to spend so much time working our dull jobs. I truly am grateful for this opportunity, but it´s not something that´s so unique to my situation. If you can, I highly recommend doing something like this--but there is no reason you can´t! Just save up a little bit a cash and hit the road! Rewards abound.

Other tip: don´t stay in El Retorno Hostel in Puerto Madryn. It´s soooo dull. That´s all.