Whales, Penguins, and Fulbright Friends

(All these great pictures were taken by Kathryn
Curtis, a Fulbright Teaching Assistant working
in Buenos Aires. I opted to use my video camera,
and she was kind enough to lend me her pics for the blog.)

On Thursday morning, September 17^th, we pulled into Puerto Madryn at 6:04am and came straight to the hostel that some French folks were staying at. We’d befriended them just as we were getting onto the bus in Buenos Aires, and I woke them up once we got to Puerto Madryn. They didn’t announce the stop; fortunately I needed to use the bathroom at the right time.

The taxi left us at our hostel for under US$2, but instead of going to the hostel, we headed straight to the ocean with our huge backpacks to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic. It was amazing. Whales leaping out, splashing with fins and tales, blowing steam and air in the French Right Whales’ trademark V-Shape exhalation. First with a couple of stars, and then with only our star, the sun, rising orange over it all.

That morning Jenni and Brad arrived and we went back to the beach to see a group of flamingos. We had a blast. It was dreamlike; I threw my Frisbee once and it rolled over 100 yards with the help of the ocean wind. We walked around Puerto Madryn, a city with a sort of Eureka Springs or Hot Springs, Arkansas or a Mendocino, CA feel, very touristy. Expensive chocolate, local artisans’ wares, streets with tons of such shops…

We had a pizza lunch, and that night we cooked dinner while we sang and danced. The French contingent brought bread and wine, and we all ate outside together.

Friday, September 18: we rented bicycles for a round-trip of 40 kilometers to Punta Flecha. We ate lunch in a sort of research shack built by this 50 to 60-ish year old lover of whales. We shared food with him and he shared chocolate cake with us. It was a fun, exhausting bike ride, and after it, I did some great yoga. We cooked again tonight.

Saturday morning, September 19, we rented a car and headed into the peninsula for real. We drove to Puerto Pirámides, had a pizza picnic next to the ocean, and then pitched our tents on the secluded, sign-less beach recommended by Joe and Joanna Wolver, Fulbrighters that were living near Resistencia for a while. That beautiful place is called Punta Pardela. That night we took a boat into the water to feel closer to the whales. Really though it felt more like a violent trespassing. The idea that being close to whales could strengthen one’s resolve as an environmental activist and thereby cancel out the negative effect of altering whale behavior, well, it may hold water, but for me. I either care already or I don’t, and I do. I could feel just as passionate or even more so by not boating out into their space.

And I don’t mean to be a downer, I am just looking for the most helpful, least harmful way to live and serve. I'm not as interested in seeing for seeing's sake, and indeed feel it valueless: curiosity or travel for curiosity or travel’s sake. And I believe I'm not alone.

But back to the story: after floating and unintentionally harassing whales, we shared dinner in the car. I made a sort of guacamole in my frisbee, and we had a desperate search for queso cremoso, my beloved Argentine cheese. It turns out we left it in the fridge at El Retorno, the hostel. Well we had a silly blast eating dinner in the car, and then headed to our tents. I saw at least one and possible three shooting stars in that beautiful seaside sky, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, Sunday, September 20, I had a lovely prayer and meditation on the shore. I also did yoga eye exercises and picked up trash. We put our tent up and headed into town, and then I took the wheel (I hadn't driven since March, and much less a standard!) and we were off to see sea lions and penguins! The penguins were my favorite. Along the way we had a wonderful time jamming to Lauryn Hill, Oasis, Van Morrison, Manu Chao, and others.

On the way back to Puerto Madryn, Kathryn and I took pictures in the sunset and sang along wildly to our cds.

Once at the hostel we took our stuff in and then accompanied Brad (a Fulbrighter Friend working in Chile) to the bus station. There we waited with him and then, as I’d learned from Lorena (who debuted in a previous blog entry), we ran wildly after his bus as it drove away. I even had my headlamp on him, chasing after him in a spotlight. Before he got out of sight I’d switched it to strobe light mode. Good times with silly people.

And on September 21, 2009, Monday, Kathryn and I did some wonderful yoga before Kathryn cooked a great lunch with Jenni’s help. The women have went for a destinationless walk, and I visited a local NGO that informs people and cares for injured animals (including petroleum-covered penguins). That’s where I learned what I had only felt previously, that a boat ride was violence against whales. Shucks.

I met Jenni as they were stocking up on goods for the 20-hour bus ride north to Buenos Aires, and I purchased some bread for the road, too.

Here's the list of Highs that we made over an overpriced Mexican dinner.

Highs:
Stephen: Sunday, Spiritual pingüinos (penguins)

Brad: Thursday, (describing seeing whales, lots of them, jump and splash and otherwise dance casually)"This is what happens in this place… my sense of what was possible (fingers in a gesture of an explosion) just exploded."

Kathryn: Saturday, our car dinner (particularly eating guacamole in a Frisbee) AND (throughout the trip) uninhibited, judgment-less laughter

Jenni: Saturday, teamwork in preparation for the trip, we each knew and assumed very important roles with respect amongst vocal and silent leaders AND the car trip generally

After watching the sunrise I sent this message to Dad.
" OH MY GOSH! Ha! They're everywhere and they're all the time!
Swimming next to each other, with pink pink flamingos on the shore. See you!

Stephen"

On our first full day in Puerto Madryn
we rented bikes and rode 40 kilometers round-trip to see
whales just 20 yards off shore. It was amazing. Half-way through we
had a picnic at a shack built by an old whale lover.

Here is the whale lover with Kathryn. I remember he
made a point of saying that it is good for whales
to be in the water and humans to be on land.

Elisa, from France, Brad, and I were just about to have dinner
at El Retorno Hostel.

Yes it was fun, riding amongst these wise seafaring mammals,
but it felt wrong and we learned
afterwards that such boat trips are indeed
changing whale behavior. Also, it's illegal
to chase whales, but our boat driver did so. Goodness.

I was shooting video. I hope to make a nice, short, summary
of a video once I'm back in Arkansas.

This picture looks doctored, and it was, but mostly
to lessen the brightness of the life jacket's reflectors.

Here's a picture of our whole group on the boat.

Jenni, me, and Brad.

I love headlamps. Here are Kathryn and I before going to sleep.
Along with waves, we heard whales snorting all night long.

Here is our camp site in the daytime.

This picture is worth including in the blog if
only to show that we are a fun group of Fulbrighters,
unafraid of silliness.

A pit stop turned yoga stop.

This felt like a sacred place. It's on the eastern coast
of Peninsula Valdez.

At this, our last stop on Peninsula Valdez,
we saw sea lions, and Kathryn took this
creative picture of all of us.

The tired ride back to Puerto Madryn was a fun one, filled
with singing and picture taking.

Puerto Madryn served as our base: where the bus
from Buenos Aires dropped us and where our hostel was.
It's where we watched the sunrise with whales jumping around
and where we saw flamingos.

Playa Doradillo is one of several places where we watched whales
just yards from the beach. In fact, in this satellite picture
from Google Earth you can see a couple, one exhaling
steam and water into the air (again, in the French Right Whales'
trademark V-shape exhalation).

Here's a shot of South America that includes
my house, Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn,
Playa Doradillo, and Peninsula Valdez.

###

On the flight to Buenos Aires, I looked out of the window and saw that there were several little fires near the airport. They were there ten days later when I flew back into Resistencia, also, and here's a little poem I wrote from all of this seeing and ignorance.

Six Syllables, Five Elements

Like fronts advancing, I

saw fresh cut slits of earth

just beginning to bleed

fire, from the air I saw

it grow in fertile black,

nighttime earth. Flying south,

roadtripping, seafaring,

visiting (whale) families,

nesting penguins, lounging

sea lions, and deep, fertile blue

water. Metal, plastic,

floating and chasing and

recording and I saw

one so close I saw its

nostrils flare. Swimming there

they felt like grandparents

tolerating selfish

neighborhood kids unaware,

unaware of harm done.