Petrified wood, few sea lions ......

Sea lion bull, along coast south of Caleta Olivia, Argentina.

After wild camping along the road I headed into the Bosques Petrificados Natural Monument, and now, National Park in Argentina. The monument and park, were created to protect the petrified wood found at one significant site, but also to protect the ecosystem found in the area, the Patagonian Steppe. I was the first visitor of they day. The actual area with the petrified trees is relatively small, along a short loop hike of maybe 2 km. There are a few impressive trees lying on the ground, dark, with an almost glass-like sheen. You could still see the growth rings in cross-section of some trees, and places when branches came off the main trunk. The trunks are mostly of giant araucaria trees, up to 150 cm in diameter, and were petrified during the Jurassic period, 140 million years ago. It was interesting, but there just was not much there, guess I expected more, especially after the effort it took to get there, and based on what folks had said on iOverlander. I was glad I visited, but the road was terrible, so who knows if it was really worth it. I did get to see my first mara, or cavy, a rabbit-like creature which reminded me of agouti of Central America (which they are related to), but with longer legs. They are part of a group of rodents native to South America, but they almost hop like a rabbit, and have white bands across their butts, always cool to see a new species, and add to my list.

I could not stay long, though some parts of the landscape were beautiful, as I was heading to Puerto Deseado, and because the road to the park off of Ruta 3 was again brutal ripio, I had to move. The drive out sucked, but once on pavement, it did not seem to take long to get to Puerto Deseado. The primary reason for a visit here was a large Magellanic penguin colony which exists in the Reserva National Ria De Puerto Deseado on a peninsula and island just south of town. I headed for town, bank and mercado, and then down to the coast and the municipal campground. I was the only one there when I "checked in". I think every little town in Argentina has a municipal campground, really weekend party pads as far as I can tell. They vary from very nice, to total dives; the one here was just ok, but was right across the street from the ocean. Next, I poked around a bit, only to learn that it was pretty expensive to get out to penguin colony, and apparently there was no way to walk, bike or drive to get there. The cheapest place I could find (of the two in town that I found), wanted $1600 pesos for a 4 hour trip out to the peninsula where the colony is located. This is over $100USD, which was too much for me, I am all about viewing, and photographing wildlife, but want to do so for free if I can. So, I just camped, had dinner, worked on the computer (most of these municipal campgrounds have electricity at each site), and went to bed early.  I did have a nice chat with a young woman who was working out with others, and their running coach. They were doing intervals, intervals which ended in the campground. It is always interesting to chat with locals when I can, but between my terrible Spanish, and the fact that very few Argentinians speak any English, these conversations do not happen often.

Next, it was back onto Ruta 3 and north to Caleta Olivia. I had decided to stop and get a hotel room for one night, or maybe two, get some wifi access, work on the blog, etc. But along the way, I also stopped at a wonderful little colony of sea lions, two groups, probably 100 animals in total. This was just a random spot along Ruta 3, mentioned on iOverlander, but there were lots of locals there checking out the sea lions. It was cool because you could really get up close, take some nice pictures. The big boys could get quickly annoyed if you got too close, but as they are as quick on land as, well a stone, you could get close and really experience these wonderful marine mammals. First, the males are huge, second, they seem to have little squabbles constantly, fun to watch, and third, they seem to be constantly scratching themselves, they must have constant itches. It was fun to hang out and watch them, photograph them, just sit there and enjoy. They did not seem to mind us, and people generally seemed very respectful of the animals. I spent over an hour there, and was the best time I had had in a couple of days, it was worth the stop for sure.

I then headed into Caleta Olivia, and well, what a dump, literally. As you enter town on Ruta 3, you drive through the town dump, a landfill, and there is plastic everywhere, plastic bags stuck to every bush and fence around, place just totally littered with plastic. They also burn their garbage, so there was smoke blowing everywhere, foul-smelling smoke, right along the busiest north-south route along coastal Argentina, strange. I went into town, got a room, Hotel Granada, went downtown to do some banking and shopping (my normal routine whenever in an Argentinian town), walked along the coast, and quickly decided one night was more than enough. The next day I would quickly continue my journey north, but hopefully I would find someplace nicer to stay. On the road again. I had seen some petrified wood and some sea lions, but not much else. The Argentinian people I have met have been very nice, I was just hoping to see more special places, more species, more nature, and so far, I mostly just drive, me, my van, and Ruta 3.

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