LEO MICIELI

Km 30-100 - First impressions in Patagonian Coast

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Km 30-100. La Boca-Lobería, Río Negro, Argentina. Noviembre 13th, 2016.

Among so many things that a trip gives, one of them is to place the traveler facing the unusual, or at least what is unusual in his birthplace: landscapes, people, language, customs, food, etc. A weekend just a few kilometers from home is enough for noticing it. In my case, born and raised with the mountains and the dryness as a background, being in front of the wideness of the ocean is like landing in other planet, an impression which gets bigger while I imagine that beyond the horizon there's still a lot of water, and besides, salt water. Not to mention how much oxygen is available at 0 m a.s.l. I think how Geography traces certain features in the people, shaping their character and giving different nuances to the same attributes that we all share. Traveling, among so many things, allows you to recognize yourself in the middle of what is unusual.

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

After these first sensations and being in a new place for me, the arrival to the coast happens in a progressive way, leaving from Viedma and across the route through green plain lands, with some animals pasturing and little houses from time to time. The persistent wind, an essential part of the Patagonian DNA, shakes the quietness at our coming. Nothing unexpected, Patagonia is a beauty a little bit surly sometimes.

El Cóndor Beach, 30 km far from Viedma-Patagones Region, is simple, quiet, and fortunately far from the typical touristic images of the sea. Glamour and sculpted bodies hanging coconuts don't fit to this place. People in here like having a good time, spending the day with their families and friends, fishing, going for a ride in their quads on the shore, even in their cars and vans, sitting down in deckchairs in order to watch the stars, drinking some 'mate' just for pleasure. There's enough space for everyone and nobody seems to interfere with other people's plans.

All this area is popularly known as La Boca (the mouth of the river), as here is where the Negro River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Geography first and then some historical avatars have turned this region into a metaphore; Viedma and Carmen de Patagones share the same river, and although each city belongs to a different province, they both work as one big city. It seems that the mixture is something common around here.

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Negro River mouth. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Low constructions, no buildings, little streets of asphalt and gravel, and sometimes covered of sand because of the always insistent wind, wide beaches with bushes and small dunes. And the cliffs... so unique from all the Patagonian coast, and which besides are the home of the largest colony of burrowing parrots in the world, a presence which is quickly noticed and, in any case, it's the only thing which is not quiet in this place. Yet they are really beautiful, and you can spend hours watching at them... with your ears covered. In enormous flocks, at sunset time they start to fly inland from the cliffs. It's a show watching at them while they perch in wires, trees, street lights and every place they can. An explosion interrupts the daily habit of the parrots, it's a neighbor who shoots his rifle or throws a firecracker, tired of non-stop squawking. This technique works well, but just for a while.

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Next to the beach, at the top of the cliff, it's placed the Río Negro Lighthouse, a small one but oldie: it's the oldest lighthouse in service in Argentina, dated back to 1887. It's strange to say that something is small when you can see it from 30 km far away, as that's its range.

I think this is the first time I see a lighthouse at night, and perhaps at day as well. Back to the first lines from this post, the feeling of watching a scene in where everything is different, everything is set in other way, everything is a reason to be surprised and staring. Lighthouses have always been fascinating for me. The blurry image of a selfless being who, awake at night, rises as the only and quiet reference in order to avoid getting lost to all those sailing nearby the coast.

Río Negro Lighthouse. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

At 30 km further from La Boca you find La Lobería. The arrival is after 7 pm, some minutes before the sunset. It couldn't have been in a better time. Along an hour the landscape seems to move, taking unbelievable shapes, passing on each instant from one picture to another. Cliffs, water and wind erosion, pools of water able to be seen at low tide, sand mixed with pebbles, seaweeds, little mussels, salt water puddles. And the sound of crashing waves. So far the frame, the canvas and some lines with background music. The master touch is given by the clouds, always dynamic and different, and the sun whose rays of light sieved by the clouds and the atmosphere give all the possible tones from yellow to the deepest blue. When the evening comes, and if the happiness of this moment wouldn't be enough, a waxing crescent moon and Venus, the Evening Star, introduce themselves impeccable in the night sky.

Really the landscape changes and keeps changing with such a smoothness and beauty that leaves you speechless. How many of us attend to this show? Probably no more than ten. Deliberately I mention the word 'show' because even the name of this place is the proper one: this bit of the cliff, similar to a semicircle, is known as 'The Amphitheatre'.

'The Amphitheatre', La Lobería. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

La Lobería Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Sea lions and a petrel. La Lobería. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

Rocks formations and mussels. La Lobería. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

La Lobería. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

It wouldn't be necessary to explain why this place is called La Lobería (sea lion colony), though you might ask where the sea lions are. This time they didn't show up here. Maybe they didn't want to interrupt the masterpiece that we were watching. However, they allowed us to see them some kilometers ahead from the viewpoint at the Marine Research Centre of La Lobería.

This stretch of the trip along the coast has to do with a kind of return. A return towards peace, towards the beauty with no makeup, towards the simple which surpasses the sublime. Something that is proper to this part of the Patagonian coast and its people. As time goes by I confirm that this land keeps a quality of origin inside.

How meaningless turn to be doctrines, policies, separations of any kind in front of something so overwhelmingly beautiful. When did we lose the chance of being witnesses of something that the human being has not spoiled yet? Experiences like these won't feed us nor increase our salary, but who wouldn't deserve spending a couple of hours filling their senses to the top, as I did?

I leave behind this place, the lighthouse has led me here and now other ports are waiting, other landscapes and roads. In the hands of a false chance will be the name of my next destination.

Río Negro Lighthouse. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

La Lobería Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

El Cóndor Beach. Río Negro, Argentina. © 2016 Leo Micieli

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Guillermo (22/11/2016)
Hermoso lugar Leo. Muy bueno tu relato. Felicitaciones¡¡¡ La combinación de texto con imágenes vale la pena. Abrazo.

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Fede (24/11/2016)
Muy buenas fotos Leo!, la verdad que me estas inspirando para hacer un viaje por estos lugares, me cuesta creer lo poco que conozco del pais :( :(, espero tu proximo reporte :) abrazo!!

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