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| 02/27/2001 |
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| Puerto
Madryn - ARG. |
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42°46 W 65°01 |
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Because
of the short amount of time that we have, and
the immensity of this country, 4.000 km long,
we decided to cross the long distances by
plane, then to rent a car when it's possible
in all the places you'll send us to. Second
decision: begin today our descent towards the
End of the World, la Tierra del Fuego. The
Team leaves Buenos Aires, hoping to come back
again before going again to East. We got the
jackets and pullovers out of our backpacks,
and the hats and wool socks are ready for use,
at last ! We
go to the Newbery national airport, to fly to
Trelew, first stopover towards Great South.
During the flight (a small plane from
Aerolineas Argentinas), Theo is threatened by
an hysterical woman. The view is splendid from
the plane: we discover a part of the Pampa and
cross the Rio Negro. Places read and dreamt
for a long time that appear to our humble
eyes. In
Trelew, we rent an old and expensive white
Renault 19. We were used to better cars in the
other countries; but this is only the
beginning of the Car@van on the American
continent. On
the road... we're on a straight motorway in
the middle of an arid and desolated land. In
the azure sky, a condor flies against the
strong gusts of wind. We're in Atlantic
Patagonia and the Team is euphoric ! We
go to the Punta Tumbo reserve, a natural
paradise, protected by the 'Wildlife
Conservation Society' - New York Zoological
Society - and the Province of Chubut. Here you
can find the biggest penguin colony on earth.
But read the Anecdote and watch the video !
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To
arrive in Punta Tumbo, you have to
drive 110 km on tracks in the
middle of nowhere. Aleko
drives very fast, remembering the
Australian roads. But, 10 km from
the goal, lost in the desert
hills, the accelerator doesn't
work anymore. We laugh a lot for a
while, then no more. Using
the choke, we manage to go to the
Park's entrance. Mauro,
who lives there, helps us. After 2
hours of work, a wire and a
'Nomad' sticker, we fix the pedal
to the cable. We're completely wet
and dusty.
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Ah...
penguins. Aleko
interviews an American biologist
who has been studying the penguins
here for nearly a year - but she
didn't want to be filmed !.
The
penguins are threatened like so
many other species. Without any
defense, they have to face black
tides, storms and warm currents
that take them too far to come
back and breed the chicks. This
year, only 5% of the chicks
survived. There are about 800 000
penguins on this protected area
(210 ha) during this time of the
year. Then
we approach them: there are some
everywhere ! Adorable little
animals which waddle towards the
sea, looking for fish, or towards
the bush, in the shadow, they let
us look at them as much as we
want... and do the same with us.
Their call is quite unusual, like
their hypnotizing eyes. Before
leaving, we see a couple of
guanacos (Patagonia's lamas),
symbol of the Journal ! Watch
the video and visit Punta Tombo's
website: www.patagoniachubutur.com.ar
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"Men
in black tie flying under the
water"
In
the past, penguins were oceanic
birds, who knew how to fly and
swim. Then, they specialized in
marine and lost their ability to
fly. Today, their wings became
flippers and feathers look like
hair.
With
their strange posture, penguins
are for many men in black tie,
often used in advertising or in
cartoons.
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Second
state of South America by its size
- after Brazil - Argentina is a
land of superlatives. The
highest mount is the Aconcagua -
6959 meters; the widest plain is
Pampa, with an area of 654.00 km2;
the most important river is the
Rio de la Plata, as big as a sea;
the Moreno glacier is one of the
lasts still increasing; and
Ushuaia, the most southern city in
the World... where you decided to
send us. If everything's fine, we
should be there by the end of the
week !
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Waiting
for your Vote
we'll explore the Valdes
Peninsula, Unesco's World
Patrimony. We
hope to see killer whales and
dolphins, some other penguins, sea
elephants, and, with lots of luck,
whales... Kisses...
the Team !
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| Guide our next steps,insert contacts & info on |
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