Kyle Berg

I’m not sure exactly what I was thinking. Feeling the impulse to get out of Buenos Aires as soon as possible, on Tuesday morning I bought a bus ticket for the following evening. This meant Tuesday and Wednesday I was frantically buying hiking socks, maps, and small necessities, cleaning the apartment, and packing away all of my things in case I would be able to rent out the place. I knew I should have given myself another day, but was desperate to get going.

Maria offered to meet for a quick goodbye ice cream at Freddo’s on Wednesday afternoon. Even though I didn’t have time and would spend an hour getting there and another hour getting back, I agreed out of a desire to show appreciation for her friendship. Needless to say, Wednesday was nuts as I cleaned, packed, and cooked tons of beef jerky for the trip. The trip to the bus station via the train to Retiro was miserable. For 18 minutes I was standing there with my backpack on, holding bags of food, my camera bag, and a tripod. I got all sorts of stares as rivers of sweat poured down and I watched vigilantly over my things while also trying to avoid falling as the train pitched, slowed, and accelerated. I thought I was going to miss my bus, but fortunately I arrived on time. J.D. had planned to meet me at the station to pick up my keys, but that didn’t happen as he was stuck in the horrendous traffic that was the result of another subway strike.

The trip to Puerto Madryn was comfortable and passed by quickly. After having taken the basic, yet more expensive buses in Brazil, it was so nice to be traveling in the luxurious Argentine buses. We pulled into Puerto Madryn around 11 a.m. and, after getting turned around at first, I made it to the El Gualicho hostel. All the tours had left for the day, so I made reservations for the following day, went to the grocery store, and then took a break in my room. Later on, I walked along the not so nice beach, looking for photo opportunities. This was a lost cause, so I turned around and headed toward the pier. Here there were many people fishing and I walked past them to the end of the dock to set up my tripod and take a few pictures of the sunset. I met a French couple there and we exchanged conversation in Spanish for a few minutes and they told me about their planned trip for the following day. While we were talking, a sea lion swam under the pier, but I wasn’t fast enough to grab a picture of it. Despite the heat of the day, the night was chilly and after taking a few basic photos, I headed back to the hostel to get some sleep.