Southern Exposure

Wednesday, April 8

We didn’t sleep well last night worrying about the bikes parked outside which, even though we received permission, for the sake of morning convenience we decided not to park in the hostel’s kitchen. It was an early morning for us, but getting up was easy, as my excitement for the penguins was growing stronger every minute. After a quick breakfast we loaded Jackie’s and our things into the car, leaving some bags at the hostel, and headed out. It took a bit longer than anticipated to get out of town. Jackie was changing hostels, so we dropped her things there first and then began the quest of looking for an ATM, as we were completely out of money.

After that anxiety was over, we were finally ready to hit the road. As we were going out of town, the car started making unpleasantly loud noises. It took a few moments to figure out that it was the wind seeping through the windows and doors. The small Golf-looking VW we rented seemed nice on the outside, but it turned out to be a real piece of junk on the inside. The brakes were squeaking; the fan was so dusty it felt like a backwards vacuum cleaner blowing the dust in our faces (so dirty we were unable to use it); the sound of the breaking wind prevented us from being able to hear the radio. But despite all that it was an easy 2-hour ride to the penguineria.

During the ride we learned a bit more about Jackie and her travels. She had an inspirational story. In her 60’s, a retired software engineer, a mom and a grandma, 11 months ago she decided to come to Buenos Aires to live there for a few months in order to escape the heat of Texas’ summer. After meeting a few backpackers in BA she realized that what she really wanted to do was backpack through South America and then the rest of the world. So she started out on her journey, shedding a few bags and pounds along the way, able to live on her monthly social security checks, and going to some remote places that the rest of her friends or women of her age, or any age, would not dare travel. Like us, this was the last leg of her South American trip. She was returning home to the US for a few weeks before starting her European adventure. Jackie was fascinated by our bike travels and was keen on doing her Europe tour on a big scooter. However it works out for her, we wish her the best of luck. Yet again, we’ve met a greatly inspirational person who, once she experienced the joys and tribulations of adventure travel, could not look back or see herself being attached to one place.

There is so much to see and experience outside of our homes and comforts zones; traveling is very infectious, and it is one of the most rewarding and worthwhile experiences in life. We’ve learned that the good way, and now we just need to figure out how we can continue traveling for the rest of our lives. 🙂

The last 22 miles to the penguineria were on a dirt road. It looked and felt like an awful road to be on a bike. I was happy it was a rental car that was taking the beating, and not our bikes. We arrived there around 10 am and were pleased to see that it was early enough not to be flooded with tourists.

It didn’t take long for the penguins to start appearing everywhere. There were thousands of the Magellanic penguins scattered around a huge area along the shore and into the mainland. A lot of them were lounging in the nesting holes, some by themselves, some in couples, some running around checking on everyone else’s business, others having large group get togethers. Feathers were flying everywhere as it was the time of year when the young shed their coats.

I was beyond ecstatic to finally see, or more like walk among the penguins. As far as the eye could see, there were these cute and funny looking creatures who shuffled their feet and flapped their wings in the most adorable way. They were almost toy looking, you just wanted to pick one up, hug it, and cuddle with it. I could not stop taking pictures. I must have deleted a 100 photos later in order to narrow down the selection. In addition to penguins, guanacos and other little animals were also partaking in the action.

The trail led to a vista point overlooking the ocean shore, where a group of penguins was entertaining themselves going in and out of water. One of the cormorant birds looked eager to join in the fun and blended in nicely with the rest of the black-and-white-coated crowd.

After a couple of hours it was time to head back to town, as we were planning on riding that afternoon to the town of San Antonio Oeste in order to make up some miles north.

We drove back to Madryn, said our farewells to Jackie, returned the car, packed the bikes and were on our way north. The ride of about 165 miles was easy and uneventful, except for the gorgeous colors of the sunset and the incredibly full moon that was accompanying us throughout the evening.

We rolled into town in the dark and stopped at the first hotel on the main road, which was a surprisingly good fit with secure parking and wi-fi. We had no energy to look for a restaurant and settled for another grocery store sandwich dinner.