LEO MICIELI

Km 3650-4190. Puerto Madryn - Puerto Pirámides - Bird Island

Puerto Madryn, Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Km 3650-4190. Puerto Madryn-Puerto Pirámides-Bird Island. July 23rd, 2017.

For those hundred and sixty two Welsh the North was also in the South. This bronze plate is in the soil a few meters from the monument that celebrates their arrival to this remote and inhospitable land, a century and a half ago, when its name was not Puerto Madryn yet. They twisted the compass and the map, and the inertia of an unpleasant present. Searched for something else, perhaps didn't know what exactly, or how, but they knew that there would have something, just because there's always something better. All of this remind us that destiny and destination are chosen over and over every single day.

In May it's time to leave. The cold becomes more persistent, the days are shorter in these latitudes and the roads are longer for the same reason. Like seasons, a stage is closed and a new one is open, maybe a risky stage, though the idea of risk comes from the mind, the calculation, more from the imagination and the probabilities than the reality itself. I choose it like it is, without knowing what is going to happen even in the next instant, in the same way than the hundred and sixty two Welsh, with the South as my main cardinal point.

Las Grutas, Río Negro. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Las Grutas, Río Negro. 2017 © Leo Micieli

I had already been in Las Grutas although in a different time. Now is even difficult to find people on the streets, open stores or some kind of movement. Everything seem to be still, latent, hibernating while the town waits for a warmer weather. Builders working, some few cars and the sea waves with their singular music is all the sound that can be heard here, like if it was from far away, from another place. Visitors have gone and now it's necessary to wait until they come back. The summer party is over and leaves the echoes of the euphoria, it's time to clean and organize everything until the next party in the next season.

It's a short stay here before the next stop. South or West? And which place? I'll know it when it happens. Meanwhile I walk by the beach and the streets with complete calm. There's a family in a spot on the shore. The bodyguard is maybe in other beaches or at his home. The landscape is closer to what it was in another time.

YPF Gas Station, National Route 3. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Route 3 appears again towards the South. After recharging with hot water, Sierra Grande passes by the side of the road while we head to the gas station near Puerto Madryn. There's no intention to get in the city despite the invitation of the kind driver. The only certainty so far is that I'll spend the night in this gas station until tomorrow, under a strong wind that shakes the tent. When I wake up I'll know what is the "suggestion" for my trip.

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

It's the next day after the noon. The suggestion, if I may call it so, is to stay in Puerto Madryn, in the downtown looking right to the sea, like the indian in the monument in Punta Cuevas. The idea of going by Route 3 has vanished. Maybe later, in some days, weeks...

I flip the coin. No matter if heads or tails, I always win.

Flags of Argentina, Wales and Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Visiting again this city after a summer afternoon in January leaves good sensations, the urban beats are slower since it's low season but the rhythm of the almost 100.000 people is the usual. Also, staying here comes with a visit to Puerto Pirámides and Bird Island, in Valdés Peninsula; Julio and Rafaela, two guys I met here, have invited me. It will be days of meeting many different people, days of listening and playing a lot of music, coastal air and long walks, all kind of emotions. It's a city that I perceive open and dynamic but calm, beautiful as the sea that borders, but at the same time with those typical things of any city: the greater it is the more vulnerable to the imbalances.

Few days after, we travel to Puerto Pirámides. Later there will be time to know better Puerto Madryn.

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

A sign at the entrance announces: Non-Toxic Town. It's something good, and it's even better to keep it that way. While going down the road you find that this place of a few hundred people is somewhat Martian and remote, an impression that is bigger when you walk on the hills and the beach where there are lots and lots of little seashells of infinite age and amount, which are embedded in all the ground. History and Prehistory comes up from the soil in this place, it's the face of a past the reaches the present. In my first post I wrote that Patagonia seems to be the origin of the World, and in places like Puerto Pirámides I reaffirm it. The foundation stone of the Earth is here, in this vast and ancient territory, and will continue to be.

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

The sun and the cold wind are also vast when we arrive. They both compensate their energies, and walking around, climbing a hill and being surrounded by the environment gives you goosebumps.

Puerto Pirámides is a very small place, in just a few blocks you find the Police Station, the Fire Station, the only gas station of the town, the Desalination Plant, some local stores and the neighbors. It's not necessary to tell the peace that dwells in the town.

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Desalination Plant, Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Near the town, about 5 km away, there's a beautiful viewpoint and a sea lions colony. And more wind. It's unbelievable how sea lions can jump so joyfully into such cold waters and cold wind that chills the bones. Fauna could mock with this human comment... At dusk we can see these animals relatively close and some birds in the sky, plus de sun rays with their orange light that hits the shore as the sea waves do. It's maybe a metaphor for Patagonia, a beaten territory formed by climatic and geological inclemencies, and then historical, political, social and economic. Human facts, after all. But always standing, showing signs of character and wisdom.

Viewpoint, Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Sea lions colony, Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Sea lions, Puerto Pirámides. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

This trip was short and would have taken more time to travel the Peninsula from end to end, even briefly. There will be more opportunities in the future although for now we must go. But before we spend a few hours on the Bird Island, which has a very particular story with two protagonists: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the 'Little Prince'.

Bird Island. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Those who have read 'The Little Prince' will know that the shape above can not be anything other than an elephant inside a boa. The elephant is a little bit crash now, apparently the snake has already digested it almost completely. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was, besides the author if the well-known and beautiful novel, a pioneer af the Argentinian aviation, a great and heroic pilot that flew by Patagonia and joined the French Resistance during the years of the Nazi occupation. His plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe in 1944. Apart from his exciting life, and although it is not demonstrated, it is said that Antoine was inspired by the shape of the Bird Island when he drew the elephant inside the boa for his novel. I prefer to think that this story is true, plus the shape of the island (which is not really an island, at low tide joins the continent) is too similar to the drawing. Also, Saint-Exupéry knew very well this place and loved it.

Although small and without much to look, this place is nice enough to spend a good time enjoying it as there are also new and clean facilities, an enclosure from which to observe the island and a very kind fauna ranger who explains us the avatars of the place, the fauna, the dangers of the sea and its victims, among other things. But it wouldn't be the same without the story of Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince, wrapping the place with romanticism.

Fauna Ranger, Bird Island. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Back in Puerto Madryn. Mornings begin later and are colder. However, the Eastern coast is perfect to go out early and wait for the sunrise, resisting the wind that drains the cold even with several layers of clothing. The rhythm of the city is calm, especially at this hours. In the distance, boats are seen as little toys on the horizon, there are always people running on the seashore or just pondering their thoughts with the eyes towards the rising sun, as I am doing now. Stores begin to open in the coastal avenue, people walk to their jobs calmly. There's a dock, fishers, some are just walking around with their dogs, visitors, some students prefer to go to the sea instead of the school. While I am there I chat with a friendly fisher and his wife for almost two hours. It seems that everything is ok here, like the gentle swell that comes and goes.

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

In some way this is a multifaceted city. The mixture of strong cultures such as the Mapuche and Welsh, so different and distant, plus other cultures imposed by the conquers, makes this city a sort of kaleidoscope that gives diverse images, sometimes fused one to the others as an alloy. This is reflected in everything, the architecture, the customs, the faces of the people with the facial features of their ancestors.

Active city culturally talking, and unstructured. Solemnity seems to have no place here. The Museum of Art on the coast may become a meeting place for percussionists by trade or just for pleasure, and play together to almost popping the walls, among paintings, photographs and the staff of the very museum. In other part of the coast there's a big house with a bar, an exhibition hall, a hairdresser, a backyard with tables and a barbecue, music, paintings and more. Just for naming two places. It seems that everyone dedicates time of their lives to some artistic activity. And if not artistic, surely it's something that includes sand, salt water and outdoors.

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

The sun and even the pleasant temperatures are diluted in water on the days of June. The beginning of the whale season in Puerto Pirámides is delayed for one week, and more. A storm that affects in many ways three quarters of Patagonia also falls on the city, where water seems to come from the three dimensions of space. The branches of the trees are twisted by water and wind, streets and sidewalks are covered with mud and look like rivers that flow into the sea, sometimes four-by-four vehicles can't move. The drizzle feels on the face like thousands of stings, sometimes the rain is thicker, and crossing the street without getting wet from feet to head is almost impossible.

After a few days everything begins to normalize, leaving behind a typical Patagonian cold.

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

The tour around the cities and towns of the Gulf of San Matías and especially of the Nuevo Gulf leaves very good sensations, the feeling of coming back someday even though I haven't seen whales or much fauna, except some sea lions and penguins. This encourages to come here again, whether as a traveler or a resident. There are several reasons that influence the choosing of a place, and each person has their own. The ports depicted here are worth to visit as many times as you want, and to stay as well. Their proximity is also a good reason, and the features between them are as contrasting as attractive.

However, this trip continues on and so will be. It will come colder lands, longer roads, wilder landscapes. Many lives wouldn't be enough to know each place of Patagonia, though doing by travelling in this life, skin-deep, looking for who knows what like the hundred and sixty two Welsh, is a beautiful way.

Puerto Madryn. Chubut. 2017 © Leo Micieli

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Federico (12/08/2017)
Leo!!! siempre es un placer leer tus relatos, me causo mucha gracia lo del elefante dentro de la boa porque hace poco lo encontré leyendo documentación en linea de unos programas de linux (si si, nada que ver, pero los programadores no puede evitar su faceta nerd) copio textual la salida de la ayuda del comando en cuestión (aptitude es programa de linea de comando, solo texto, básico para la adminitracion de linux, el dibujito no se si se va a ver bien porque lo armaron con caracteres) debian:~# aptitude -vvvvv moo

.                        /----\
.              -------/        \
.          /                        |
.--------/                         ---------------\
.----------------------------------------------

debian:~# aptitude -vvvvvv moo What is it? It's an elephant being eaten by a snake, of course.

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