Gang bang...in Puerto Madryn



Puerto Madryn Picasa Web Album

 Just reading the title of my last blog, "Three months"...Funnily, it's been exactly three months since that last blog, and honestly, since I've discovered Facebook, I'm even more confused about whether I should be posting pictures on my blog, or just on facebook, but then the wall posts are just not suitable for stories...And God knows I've got a hundred stories sitting in me since my trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo! But somehow, that experience was so big and profound, that I dread putting these first words on paper, I need to let it all sink in a bit more...So, for those of you who are dying to "meet" my incredible grandmother (Kaku! in Tshiluba), to step into the vibrant daily life of the Congolese in Kinshasa, to taste and smell the african cuisine, to feel the incredible hope the population has vested in one of the candidates for November's presidential elections (a first Spring revolution in Sub-Sahara Africa?)...patience!!! I swear it will come, I've already started sorting through more than 350 pictures and video footage of my one-week trip...;-)

Allow me to start with something smaller, easier to swallow and digest. One week in Congo has definitely woken me up! I came back with the promise that life is too short to just let it pass by, and looking back at my first six months in Argentina, I noticed that I've barely seen anything from this beautifyl country! Work and lots of stress are barely a good excuse! And since one never knows how much longer this experience will last (especially me with my short-term contracts), I've decided to venture out more, starting with the first weekend since my arrival, which happens to be a long weekend!

A twenty-hour bus ride south from Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn is a small port town, entry point to northern Patagonia, which counts Argentina's biggest aluminium factory, but more importantly, has the luck to host some of the world's largest mammals on their annual breeding tour, the Southern Right Whales (Ballena Franca Austral)! Those of you who know the author of this piece, the city-girl born and raised in Brussels, are probably already chuckling internally: how on earth can Rose now be so lyrical about a bunch of whales (after last year's dolphins in Mozambique)...

I'm writing this piece from Yoaquina, a cosy beach-front cafe, with a view on the emerald green and deep blue Gulf Nuevo, where I was greeted again by four or five whales just off the coast on a solitary and glorious morning walk! Amen to the solemn sandy beach, the wind playing in my hair, the sun making my little brother's gloves and scarf (no idea how these got in one of my boxes in South Africa, Tom) just perfect to ward off the polar cold, and amen to these incredible creatures who are putting up a show again for the third day in a row!

August-September is the mating season, and thanks to Sebastian, our passionate guide on yesterday's tour of the Peninsula Valdez (Huinca Travel, I can really recommend!), I feel like I know all about these big blubby sociable beings. So, the female (hembra) is, with 15 meters and weighing 50 tons, the bigger of the sexes, and the dominant one! Upon her call, she attracts four or five males, ready to follow the female in the mating dance. For hours, they will circle around the female, a gang of brothers cooperating to try and get her into the right position, but she leads them on and on (not tonight honey) and wears them out (part of the selection), until finally the persistent males get a chance each to inseminate her (which lasts just a couple of seconds), after which the real selection is based on the sperm's quality!

Upon my arrival on Saturday, I witnessed two groups playing already from the beach. But yesterday's boat trip brought it all up close (and personal?)! Amazing, what I liked best is that our captain was not trying to follow the whales, but that the whales decide whether or not they would come close to us! How blessed a spectator I felt to see their enourmous callous heads spray up water, their big backs swirling in and out of the water, and, cherry on the pie, the jumps and tail fins gliding back into the water, surrounded by subwoofer stereo sounds! Amen to Nature, when you get so close and almost under my skin, you take my breath away! Thank you!