I woke up at 3:00 AM and took a shower, went back to bed, and conked
until the wake-up call at 7:30. We ate a good breakfast and pulled
out of town just after 9:00. Before long, we saw an ample number
of rheas and guanacos to satisfy everyone, even Danielle. The ride
down to Cabo Virgenes took longer than I remembered but by 1:00 we were
at the Pinguinera. There is now a $5/head entrance fee and a fenced
path has been established through the rookery. More than 500,000
birds are there at the high time of the year (now). As we stood at
the beach overlook, we got our first taste of the Patagonian wind. It was
only moderately strong. Our ranger/guide, Eduardo, was excellent.
Everyone asked lots of questions and he answered them all. I came
away extremely impressed with how much the place has changed for the better.
Next, we drove south to Punta Dungeness at the southeasternmost point on mainland. It was clear and windy and felt great to be back. Penguins were swimming in the surf and most people went down to the water’s edge to touch the Straits of Magellan water. We were standing right on the border between Argentina and Chile but not a soul was in sight except for our group. As lonely as the place seemed, the offshore oil platforms out in the Straits looked even lonelier. Our return trip was long and full of conversation. When we got
to Río Gallegos, we headed east to the sea and the shipwreck high
on the beach. We had been admiring the flatness of the Patagonian
steppes all day so it was a shame that the tide was not out so that people
could see the next terrace being set up.
We returned to the hotel at 10:00 and went to the Club Británico
for an excellent lamb curry dinner. By midnight, we were back at
the hotel. Greg, Sally and I split a bottle of wine and talked until
2:00.
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