Nature

The nature here is so wonderful.  I see lots of vultures and two kinds of cormorants. I even saw a beautiful falcon and lots of hummingbirds and other types of birds, one with a beautiful yellow breast.  I see sea lions and dolphins in the water almost every day.  As well as some frogs. There are lots of mussels and seaweed as well as small crabs and anenomes.

Beautiful Day!

Its a beautiful sunny day, which is so wonderful after about 5 days a torrential downpouring.  I heard that it was well more than average. 
Today I saw a pod of around 25 dolphins jumping out front today then went to see some bee boxes being maintained and split.  I even saw a swarm that was put into another box.  The beekeeper said he started with 2 families about a year ago and now has 7.  

Excursion

Nov 11 - Excursion to the Island of Liliguapi.  A small island that used to have a penguin colony a few years ago.  The penguins may have moved to a better nesting ground since dogs appeared on the island around the same time they disappeared.  We walked around for a while but didnt find any penguins but saw signs of a dog. We saw the shell of loco which is a Chilean Abalone which is possible endangered but highly prized in Japan.  The island was covered in mussels on the sea line and had little crabs and anenomes in the tidal pools.  Then walked around Hornopiren a small town.  We saw a large colony of cormorants with a rarer species some pelicans and a large sea lion colony of around 800 sea lions.  There are so many salmon farms here.  

Nov 13 - Went on a walk along the river and crossed the river in a kayak with no paddles just pulling  a rope strung across the water.  There is a tree here called tepa with fragrant leaves. Another tree here is the canelo which has berries that were used to prevent scurvy and the bark is also used as a pepper substitute.  They use mosqueta (rosehip) here to make marmelades and sweets alot. Nalca is a huge leaf and the stem can be eaten raw.  We were bitten by tabanos which are horseflys on our walk.  There are so many hummingbirds and very big turkey vultures, called jotes here. 

Hike

I am completely exhausted today.  Yesterday we went on a hike up the mountain that was supposed to take 2 hours but the trail needed cutting back since its spring that trail probably hadnt been used much over the winter. I was glad I wore pants as I had to brush small leeches on my pants which I hear are abundant here due to the large amounts of rainfall.  We left just after 6pm and made it to the top around midnight. It was beautiful and peaceful up there.   There was a large waterfall and the moon was bright enough you could see the other mountains and the sea clearly which had a beautiful glow around it in the clouds and a wonderful reflection on the sea. Some clouds moved in for a little while covering the sea the moved on.  I could only pick out Orion which was upside down.

On the walk were ornithologists and herpetologists who were studying frogs so they found a number of frogs on our walk even in the dark as it got dark before we arrived at the top.  I was amazed how they could find these small frogs only an inch or less long and well camouflaged.  We had some mate (fermented tea) and sandwiches at the top in a small hut.  Then hiked down.  We got back after 2AM.  A truly beautiful hike!  I want to do it again before I leave in the day to take some pictures.

I finally saw dolphins off the beach today. I have heard they are here all the time but today was the first day I have seen them.  There were at least 6 of them.

Argentina Photos

Guanacos at Punto Tombo

Southern Right Whales Pto Piramide

Hike where I am staying

Bariloche

sunset

from the bus

the Andes coming from Mendoza, Argentina to Chile

Penguin Colony Megallan at Punto Tombo

Toninas at Rawson

Patagonia and Argentina

I started my vacation by going to Puerto Montt.  It has an area to walk around by the water, a large artisian market and a large fresh fish market with small places to eat.  Tons of eating cheap eating options and people asking you to come to eat at their small restaurants with only a few tables. I tried raw sea urchins.. probably tasty but couldnt quite get used to the taste and texture. Homemade cheese shops were abundant too.

Then I went to Puerto Varas also in Chile.  There it was a very European town.  We got a kilo of clams for $1USD.

Then we went to Argentina to the Lakes district.  First to Bariloche which is very Swiss German with fondue places everywhere and chocolate shops on every corner.  We stayed at an amazing place with a view of the lake.  It was on the 10th floor of an apartment building and a balcony and lots of windows looking over the lake.  At little challenging to find since but worth it for the view.  One day on the elevator up to our place an older woman says in Spanish ¨Goodbye black woman¨ as a black woman leaves the elevator.  Then she turns to us and tells us in Spanish that she is a prostitute.  Not sure if it was true or not but it was funny.  The next day we went on hike up a mountain and around a park.

The next day we headed out to El Bolson a smaller town also with a bit of a European feel where we went horse back riding in the hills and walked around the local park and craft market. 

Then another bus to Puerto Madryn.  Where we went to Puerto Valdes to see the penguins and the elephant seals as well as to see some wale watching where its guaranteed to see southern right whales.  Then the next day we went to Punto Tombo to see the Magellan penguin colony of over 400,000 penguins during their mating and nesting season where you could see eggs in their nests.  We also took a boat trip out to see Torono Franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) dolphins one of the worlds smallest dolphins.  It is threatened by being a by catch in fishing nets. Overall the tours in Puerto Madryn were very expensive and all day long.  If I had more time I would probably take a bus out to Puerto Valdes and stay a night there and save the money on the day trip.  The also had rain the night before and we were not able to see all of the park as the roads were closed. We actually got stuck and had to have someone tow us out of the mud. 

Now in Mendoza for some wine tasting. 

River hike

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day which is rare here in rainy season.  Went for a hike along the river yesterday.  It was beautiful the water is completely clear in some areas.  We ate nalca an edible plant.  It has a huge leaf and we cut the very large stem and at the stem with salt.. raw.