Gone to the lab

While Lesley was galoping around the highlands, I was, of course, slaving away in the lab. All is going very well actually. This is thanks to Gustavo´s great team, especially Carina and Fabian who help me daily. Went out looking for frogs the other night with expert frogologist Guillermo Natale. We observed 4 different species.. from very small to leopard frog size. Some have very peculiar breeding strategies. Went out with Pedro net fishing and we harvested 4 different species for a study on pollution in the local lake. Fun, well, this is fun, as are the great meals and parties we are having. Loads of exellent wine, oh, what will I do after I leave?

Last night we went to see a documentary produced by the students of the Universidad de San Martin. It was about the start of the major troubles between ther military junta of the mid-sixties and the many hundreds of university students and profs that were beaten, chased out of the country or ¨disapeared¨. This was the beginning of a very dark and violent period in Argentinain history. It was hard to understand the dialog (spanish) of people who lived through that period, but the film footage of the time was very graphic. Can you imagine a gang of fully armed soldiers walking into a Canadian university class and beating the prof nearly to death in front of the students? Can you imagine soldiers beating 20 year old female students to death? Again in plain view of hundreds. This is what happened. The following military government in the mid-seventies was the worse in history. More on that when I learn more about it.

The national, provincial and municipal elections were on Sunday. Christina Kirchner, senator and wife of the outgoing president, along with many of her colleagues were elected in a clear majority. This raises some controversies for sure. However, it was peaceful, and Argentina´s economy is for the moment stable. This is not the same country of the sixties and seventies decribed above. Some things can change for the better and we are happy to be here at this time.

Gone Gaucho

Mendoza is Argentina’s most beautiful province or so we have been told by many Mendozans. It is hard to dispute. The desert in bloom meets the Mendoza River flowing with the spring melt waters of the Andean snows. The hot desert air is refreshed by the cool breezes that drift down from the stunning snow covered peaks in the distance. Soaking in the views, breathing the fresh mountain air with a belly full of asado while drinking some of the worlds best red wines with good friends, well what could be better? I’ll tell you....

Gauchas Karen M. and Christine E. finally arrived and we headed of to the Andes for four days of riding Creole horses lead by authentic gauchos argentinos. It was a lesson in minimalism as we were told only to take what we were wearing and a warm jacket and sleeping bag. Diego repeated the phase "too much! too much! you don’t need it." After the initial shock that we would spend the next four days in the same socks and underwear, (sorry if this is too much information for you), we trekked our horses through the desert to the base of the pre-cordilleras, through very rough terrain covered with cactus and prickly shrubs. We made our way up the hills to our camping spot. The horses were unsaddled and released untethered to forage on what eatable plant matter they could find, while we disassembled our saddles made of layers of sheepskin and transformed them into warm and comfortable beds.

Before falling asleep under the Southern Cross, we built a huge fire and Daniel our guide prepared an asado feast (meat cooked over wood coals) of chorizo (sausage), bife de lomo (beef tenderloin) and chancho (pork). In this land of meat we try our best to get at least three servings of fruit a day, Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon.... That first night, a few extra copas were served up and drank by us thirsty trail-weary gauchas.

Mornings began with a refreshing drink from the cold mountain spring and a quick wash up in the stream while our hosts brought out their lassos and rounded up the horses. The terrain was unbelievably rough with steep ups and downs over stones, through rock fields, around boulders finally to reach an open Alpine meadow where we could gallop and play with our horses, then relax and enjoy the breathtaking views. The scenery was truly unbelievable, indescribable really. Should I even try? These few photos are an attempt to capture the astounding beauty of the area (coming soon).

Andean condors swooping low over us to satisfy their curiosity. Guanacos (llama-like animal), golden on the hill sides oblivious to our presence, a rare and elusive red fox bolts when he sees us round a corner.

After our final night in an Alpine hostel, singing and playing guitar and drinking the house dry and I mean we emptied every bottle and considered how the toilet bowl cleaner might go down, we went to bed at 5 am to rise at 8 and begin our final days ride. We directed our horses to a height of over 4000 m through snow and spring melt waters to the most spectacular 360 view yet. We could see Mendoza city in the distance.

Finally we made our decent and headed for home. Our group from Canada, Ireland, Australia, Israel and our course our Argentine guides shared a very special four days and created memories that will stay with us forever. I hope we will meet again someday to share more stories, songs and vino tinto!

Lesley´s bird list (up dated November 19, 2007)

Gentoo Penguin
Magellanic Penguin
Greater Rhea
Lesser Rhea
Spotted Nothura
White-Tufted Grebe
Pied-Billed Grebe
Great Grebe
Black-browed Albatros
Southern Giant Petrel
White-Chinned Petrel
Common Diving-Petrel
Neotropical Cormorant
Rock Cormorant
Kink Cormorant
Blue-eyed Cormorant
White-Necked Heron
Whistling Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Maguari Stork
Black-faced Ibis
Bare-faced Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoobill
Chilean Flamingo
Southern Screamer
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Coscoroba Swan
Black-Necked Swan
Kelp Goose
Upland Goose
Ashy-headed Goose
Creasted Duck
Spectacled Duck
Southern Wigeon
Yellow-Billed Pintail
Speckled Teal
Red Shovler
Silver Teal
Flightless Steamer Duck
Flying Steamer Duck
Brazilian Duck
Lake Duck
Masked Duck
Andean Condor
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Black-Chested Buzzard-Eagle
White-tailed Kite
Bay-Winged hawk
Long-Winged Harrier
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Red-Backed Hawk (on nest)
Mountain Caracara
White-throated Caracara
Southern Crested-Caracara
Chimango Caracara
Apolmodo Falcon
American Kestral
Limpkin
Giant Wood-Rail
Red-Gartered Coot
White-winged Coot
Red-Fronted Coot
Common Gallinule
Spot-flanked Gallinule
Wattled Jacana
American Oystercatcher
Magellanic Oystercatcher
Blackish Oystercatcher
South American Stilt
Southern Lapwing
Two-Banded Plover
Collared Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Red Knot
Baird´s Sandpiper
Wihte-rumped Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Hudsonian Godwit
Common Snipe
Least Seedsnipe
Gray-Breasted Seedsnipe
Antarctic Skua
Dolphin Gull
Kelp Gull
Gray-Hooded Gull
Brown-hooded Gull
Franklin's Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Snowy-Crowned Tern (Sterna trudeaui)
Common Tern
South American Tern
Antarctic Tern
Large-billed Tern
Yellow-Billed Tern
Royal Tern
Picazuro Pigeon
Spot-Winged Pigeon
Rock Dove
Eared Dove
Picui Dove
White-tipped Dove
Monk Parakeet
Guira Cuckoo
Burrowing Owl
Scissor-tailed Nightjar
Andean Swift
Red-tailed Comet
Glittering-Bellied Emerard
Ringed Kingfisher
Field Flicker
Golden-Breasted Woodpecker
Magellanic Woodpecker
Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper
Narrow-billed Woodcreeper
Common Miner
Blackish Cinclodes
Dark-bellied Cinclodes
Bar-winged Cinclodes
Rufous Hornero
Thorn-tailed Rayadito
Chicli Spinetail
Tufted Tit-Spinetail
Freckle-Breasted Thornbird
White-throated Treerunner
Andean Tapaculo
Black-and-White Monjita
Gray Monjita
White Monjita
Fire-eyed Diucon
Ochre-naped Ground-tyrant
Dark-faced Groud-tyrant
Rufous-backed Negrito
Spectacled Tyrant
Cattle Tyrant
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Vermillion Flycatcher
Tufted Tit-tyrant
White-creasted Elania
Southern Martin
Gray-Breasted Martin
Brown-Chested martin
White-Rumped Swallow
Chilean Swallow
Blue and White Swallow
House Wren
Chalk-Browed Mockingbird
Patagonian Mockingbird
Creamy-Bellied thrush
Rufous-Bellied Thrush
Austral Thrush
Chiguango Thrush
Masked Gnatcatcher
Masked Yellowthroat
Red-Creasted Cardinal
Band-Tailed Seedeater
Yellow-bridled Finch
Grassland Yellow-Finch
Saffron Yellow-Finch
Greater Yellow-Finch
Band-tailed Sierra-finch
Gray-Hooded Sierra-finch
Patagonian Sierra-finch
Rufous-Collard Sparrow
Great Pampa-Finch
Hooded Siskin
Blach-chinned Siskin
Austral Blackbird
Screaming Cowbird
Shiny Cowbird
Bay-Winged Cowbird
Yellow-Winged Blackbird
Brown and Yellow Marshbird
Long-Tailed Meadowlark
White-Browed Blackbird
House Sparrow
Common Starling

¿Hables Español?

Getting by in Spanish is an interesting challange. I’m surprised by the number of people who speak very good English and by the many more who speak what they call “Spanglish” which is a mixture of the Spanish and English enough to be understood. This is my goal but I am not quite there yet. I speak more of what I have come to call Manglish – mangled Spanish with English. For example I went into the fruit and veg store early in my trip intending to buy some fruit for breakfast. I asked the shop keeper for “perros” (dogs) and he started barking and growling at me. Realising my error, I immediately said “¡No perros! ¡No perros!” “mi gustaria peras.. ¡peras¡” and pointed to the pears I wanted to buy.

Vance and I were having breakfast at our hotel in Capo Palonio recently. We wanted to ask for more jam and so we tried to think about what the word could be. I thought maybe it a variation of the word “preserves” maybe it is “preservativo” which I thought I had heard before. Vance stoped me before I asked the waiter for “condoms” for my toast!

The accents in Spanish are also very important. We frequently see signs at tourist destinations that say “Bienvenido todo los años” which basically means “open all year”. Without the tilde on the “n” visitors with my level of Spanish might interpret it to read “welcome to all assholes”!

Encounters with Darwin

Darwin passed through Uruguay on his famous travels and there lingers some evidence of his presence. Sapito de Darwin (Darwin´s toad) Melanophyniscus montevidensis is a local endemic with a dwindleing population due to urbanization and land use conversion. Because we arrived in Uruguay in the rainy spring weather we were delighted by their songs and plentiful numbers in the dune pools of Cabo Polonio where we spent a few days on the coast.

I made another interesting connection to Darwin in while in Uruguay. I sat on the knee of someone who sat on the knee of someone who sat on the knee of someone who sat on the knee of Darwin! Vance has been try to sit on me ever since but I so far have refused. I just don´t like the idea of the chain being perpetuated through his lap.

Two local biologists Joaquín and Paulo from Aves Uruguay took me bird watching at Laguna La Roche an impressive brackish water lagoon that empties into the Atlantic. The area is rich in bird and other wildlife as a number of ecosystems intersect here including a huge dune system, wetlands, shrublands, fresh water lagoon, native grasslands in addition to the brackish lagoon, ocean and sea coast. We walked the grasslands which are the most important known wintering habitat of the Buff-Breasted Sandpiper a species that breeds in the Canadian Arctic and migrates to this very spot each year. Unfortunatley we did not see any that day. However, we were excited to spot a couple of juvenile Red Knots. The Red Knot also breeds in the Canadian Arctic and has been experiencing a stunning decline in the last decade. Aves Uruguay will begin monitoring the Red Knot in this location beginning next year with the help of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). I will meet Joaquín again next month in Tierra del Fuego where we will work with an international team surveying and monitoring the Red Knot on it´s wintering grounds.

Wonderful hospitality!

Life is busy in Chascomus. Vance is busy with his research and Lesley busy with Spanish lessons, bird watching and generally taking life easy. The generous hospitality of Carina, Catalina and Gustavo is enhancing our visit tremendously.

Gustavo cooked us a wonderful traditional meal in a tripod vessel made from a disk of the type that is used to plough the fields. A small fire is placed under and the meat slowly cooks. He prepared a dish of pork ribs with onions, beer and sugar which gave it a rich sweet sauce. Delicious!

This past weekend we all travelled to the sea coast to Mar del Plata. This seaside city is one of Argentina’s most popular beach destinations in the summer. Even on this early spring day there were lots of beach goers. However, only the hardiest would venture into the 10 degree South Atlantic Ocean.

On Sunday we went deep sea fishing. The sea was quite rough and I spent much of the day in the cabin trying to keep my breakfast down while Vance and Gustavo reeled in fish after fish. We caught 5 different species of fish and will feast for weeks on our days catch. Vance prepared us a wonderful fish dish last night that was so delicious it earned him a standing ovation from the diners.

From now on our schedule gets very busy. We travel to Buenos Aires for October 3-5, then home to Chacomus for the weekend before going to Uruguay for a week. When we return from Uruguay, I will meet my friend Christine in BA and we will then travel to Mendoza (the wine region) and meet Karen for a week of horseback riding, wine tasting and other fun and mischief.

Hello to everyone at home. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Love Lesley and Vance