Scott and Pam on the Road

East coast wildlife

Hi all,

Whooosh! 19 days down and 4 days back up..... It was really kinda cold down there....

In Ushuaia, we decided that we had had enough cold- glaciars and mountains are great, but this is a trip south and hey, sounds like there are plenty of icebergs floating down the Fraser waiting for us at home in BC- what is with the weather there this winter?

So, from Ushuaia, we headed North as fast as possible. On the second night, we stopped in Puerto San Julian to sleep and while pulled over on the main drag, looking at the guidebook, a guy on a scooter pulled up and asked us in English if we needed a place to stay. The locals frequently do this and Scott hates being approached in this way (we’re Canadians, the high pressure pitch doesn’t work), but this guy isn’t a local- I look over at his scooter and ask – are you touring on that ??? Anyways, we end up sharing a cabana with Dirk and Sander and Marco. Dirk and Sander are travelling from Alaska to Ushuaia on Honda 50cc mopeds, retrofitted with 100cc engines. Marco is also Dutch and riding a huge BMW, having met up with the scoots in Chile. You can check our Dirk and Sander’s very funny weblog and photos at www.honda50.cc.

Next day, we headed into San Julian to try to find a tour company that was recommended to us by some Argentinos we met while camping near the Perito Moreno glaciar. The tour doesn’t go until 3 in the pm, so we find a trail around the beach and catch some beautiful sights around the harbour before getting on the boat for the tour. The tour is in a 20-person Zodiac and we go to a Cormorant refuge area (smelly!!) on one side of the harbour and then to a beach filled with penguins on the other side where they let us out with the instructions “no molestar el penguinos”. It was really neat to be able to see them so close, but some of the idiots on the tour, one father in particular, is encouraging his kids to get in real close for a picture and his son in busy trying to pet a penguin, walking in amongst their nests. It was really frustrating because we felt fortunate to have the opportunity to see them so close, but this jerk made us realise why this shouldn’t be allowed for anyone. On the way back, in the harbour, the boat driver hops into the water with a wetsuit on and starts splashing around and after a while (after I run out of film), there are several black and white Commersons dolphins swimming and jumping around him and when we take off again in the Zodiac, a bunch come with us and are playing in the wake at the bow of the boat, just a few feet from where we are hanging over the side. Very cool. We get back to the beach at around 5 pm and gas up and hit the roasd at 6pm. Kinda late start, but it stays dark until 10:30, right? Wrong! We forgot about the fact that we have blasted some 1200 km north and the fact that these means the days aren’t as long anymore... Night falls on us only a few km from the town we are trying to reach though, so no big deal.

We keep pushing north, Ruta 3 is incredibly boring inland. Seeing sheep break up the horizon becomes a treat. We begin to wonder if the word “Patagonia” doesn’t mean “Cold, Flat & Windy” in Tehuelche. But we are pleasantly surprised to wake up one morning and put all our warm clothes per usual and go outside to find everyone wearing shorts! The days got shorter but warmer, which is good because we have been chilled. We spent the last couple of days at Penisula Valdes Nature Reserve. We arrive at the small village on the penisula to find it is a total beach town- diving shops and everyone in bathing suits. 2 days ago I was wearing all the warm clothes I had, and some of Scotts too! A bit of a shock. We spent a day going out to the north end of the penisula, to see a sea lion ‘loberia’ with some 300 sea lions hanging out sunning themselves! Big fat sea lions all over the beach- enormous males, lots of females and many babies, all born in Jan, some big and some tiny, depending on whether they were born at the beginning of the month or the end- they grow 300% in their first month and then they are on their own. Apparently the Orcas in the area also know about this hang-out and come by every couple of days or so for a snack, but not while we were there. We also saw armadillos scurrying around near the parking lot- they look like cute little pigs wearing armour.

Today, we are spending our last night on the east coast, in Trelew. We picked up a couple of new rear tires for the right price at the local motorcycle shop this am and then they quoted us $4 each to mount the tires- this is a $50 job at the bike shops back home. The tires are Metzeler, a good brand, but made in Brazil, so all bets are off as to how long they might last. But our old rear tires, after 12,500 km, are really worn out and getting thin. When they take Scotts tire off, we find that a small bit of wood has gone through his tire and the inner tube, but was still plugging the hole in the tube so the tire hadn’t gone flat yet.... At least these new tires will mean we don´t have to worry about slivers of wood giving us flats-that is pretty bad! And they only have to carry us back to Vina del Mar and then they won’t owe us anything.

Tomorrow we will go west to Esquel, heading for the Argentinian lake district. And now we must go cinch up our droopy chains for the ride...

Cheers all,
Scott and Pam

PS Thanks to everyone who sent emails to congratulate us on reaching Ushuaia!!!

Posted by scottandpam at February 3, 2005 01:13 PM