Peninsula Valdes

Quick update because we finally found a WiFi signal in eastern Patagonia (in the Puerto Madryn bus terminal). Since Sunday night we have been camping on Peninsula Valdes, which is world famous for its wildlife, especially the 9 orcas that almost beach themselves to feed on sea lions and southern elephant seals every March and April. On two different days we were able to see orcas (saw 7 just this morning), but they decided not to come in to the beach to feed even though they were just a hundred yards or so away. Anyway, we have pictures of penguins, seals, etc., but the signal is too slow to get photos uploaded right now. We are headed to Mendoza tonight, so hopefully we will have a faster connection there and can get some pictures posted. Hope everyone is doing well!

trout heaven

This is Ian guest blogging on behalf of Clay and Esma, who graciously allowed me to visit them in Argentina. The trip to Patagonia was amazing - we did lots and lots of fishing, stopping only sometimes to eat and only at dark to sleep. Since the Holley camera got drowned (but later resurrected!), here are some of my photos from the trip.

This is one of my favorite photos of Clay's many, many catches. Don't let the fish's size deceive you--it had the heart of a champion but took on a bit more than it could swallow.


Clay often offered me the most ideal-looking fishing holes, and I would accept, only to see Clay downstream catching more (and bigger) trout. After a while I started thinking, 'something fishy's going on', so at this particular prime hole, I turned down his offer...only to see Clay pull out this 20" monster rainbow (and about 10 other trout)! You are quite the fisherman, Clay!


Chilly mornings in Patagonia often turned into hot afternoons, and dressing in layers was key. Here's the highly-fashionable Esma dressing for the day's weather (and looking an awful lot like a rodeo clown...or Pippi Longstocking). Esma was gracious enough to let me post this semi-embarrassing photo of her but wanted me to point out that she was still color-coordinated!


The water in Patagonia was the purest I've ever seen. We were often tempted to drink straight from the rivers! Here's Clay casting into a crystal clear fishing hole.


Although we spent a bulk of our time camping and fishing, we did take some time to check out the nearby towns. Here we are outside of Junin.


Our last day of fishing was the best, with well over 200 fish combined between us, including this nice brown trout. We caught so many fiesty fish that our forearms were sore from all the fights!


And what's a great trip without some delicious local eats? My last day in Argentina was spent exploring Clay and Esma's adopted home of Bariloche. Here we are in downtown enjoying some choripan (Argentinian sausage dogs, aka "heart-attack in a bun"), made by the local choripan master himself!


Thanks for letting me visit, Clay and Esma! I had a great time in trout heaven. Hope to go back sometime!