I remembered more stuff I observed/wanted to write about. I guess that’s the thing if you just post for 5 hours straight… good thing I don’t have a job to keep me busy! =P
In Peninsula Valdes, we also saw southern white whales. Because of the wind conditions, we ended up being in a big boat and not a small boat. No matter – we were able to see a mother whale and 14 month old baby whale breach for about an hour. They have small, white patches near the front. Apparently, they are born with those patches and they are unique for every whale. I forget what they were for, and I’m too lazy to look it up. I’m sure one of you can comment about it. =P
We were photographed with students from school who were also in the same boat with us. The kids didn’t speak much English but apparently thought it was cool to see us speak English. So this kid, Gaston, managed to be in the picture with us to show off to his friends. Alas, I didn’t snap a picture of them before we departed, but it made for an amusing ride back after seeing the whales.
The national reserve for Magellan penguins, apparently, got its beginning because of a golf glove manufacturer. Golf gloves apparently have little holes, and penguin skins have tiny little holes. A golf glove maker thought that it would be a great idea to make golf gloves out of the Magellan penguins. That caused an uproar among scientists and environmentalists, and they pushed for more studies on the penguins before they can be used as golf gloves. So, Argentina created the reserve to study the Magellan penguins, and today it attracts quite a lot of tourists. I don’t think the golf glove manufacturer will be able to make penguins into gloves anymore.
Iguazu Falls, as I said, is in a national park. But I forgot to mention that there were lots of deforestation, and the jungle surrounding Iguazu Falls is now 5% of what it used to be. When we took the jungle tour, we were also told that because people like to eat palm hearts, palm trees are on the point of extinction. Apparently, it takes a really long time to grow (15 years before you can eat) palm trees. We also saw orchids on top of the trees there, but I don’t think any of my pictures came out (again, no real zoom function to my camera).
Argentine folks love to drink mate tea. My sister and I bought some, and it’s smoky and quite strong. The tea cup is made of gourd. You fill it with mate tea leaves and water and drink it out of a straw. The straw is filled with holes at the bottom so you don’t drink in the tea leaves. The mate is indigenous to Argentina, and as far as I know, they are the only ones drinking this tea. Argentine folks drink it pretty much all day long. We saw people hanging out, drinking out of same mate tea cup, in the afternoons, mornings, etc.
Our tour guide at Iguazu Falls told us that mate supposedly relaxes you, is used for old folks and women (I forget for what).
The global warming is affecting Argentine weather as well. Buenos Aires was apparently warmer than it normally should be. Peninsula Valdes got more rain than before. And Iguazu Falls was inundated with rain. Also, the hole in the ozone layer is over the southern hemisphere, and you need to wear sunscreen all the time. I did but I still got tanned.
I noticed that most Argentine women had long hair. Maybe long hair is the way to go in Argentina for both sexes.
People in Argentina say “chao” a lot, instead of “adios.” It threw me for a while, because I thought that was Italian.
We used Rotamund travel agency to book our tours and flights to Iguazu Falls and Peninsula Valdes. Specifically, our travel agent was Natalia Larossa. She was fantastic and very helpful. I recommend using Rotamund travel agency if you want to travel to Argentina and want to book anything. Rotamund is in Argentina, but they have English speakers as well. Also, for domestic flights within Argentina (like flying to Iguazu Falls and Trelew), you should book them through a travel agency in Argentina or once you are in Argentina. If you book them from outside of Argentina, you are charged twice as much.
Did I mention that Argentines love to eat meat? They also eat horse meat (like hot dogs) and bull’s testicles. No, we didn’t try them but took their word that they were good.
Argentines eat dinner pretty late. As you know, I eat early… like the freak that I am. My usual meal hours – 6:30-7 for breakfast; 11:30 for lunch; and 6:00-6:30 for dinner. Well, the restaurants in Argentina don’t open for dinner until 8:00 at the earliest. The usual dinnertime is apparently 9:30-10:30. They go out to bars starting at 1:00 a.m., to clubs at 3:00 a.m. I was also told that elementary schools are divided into two sessions – morning and afternoon. Because kids stay up until whenever they want to (they eat dinner at 9:30 after all), most kids attend afternoon sessions. Around 5-6, most folks have mate tea, coffee, and snack until dinnertime. Eating dinner at 8 was pretty darn hard for me… I was starving!!
Well, a long addendum but it was a long trip. =)
