Feb 21 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina

SANDY SHORE : I made a tour bus full of passengers pull over into a gas station so that I could get off and go to the bathroom. Donna’s dad has a picture of it to prove it. Was I mortified? Yes, but not as much as I would have been walking around with wet trousers.

We were on our way to Gaiman… a little Welsh town about 14 hours from Puerto Madryn. Sorry, it just felt like 14 hours, it was really only about 2, but I wasn’t paying attention to that part when they told me we were going to a little teahouse in a Welsh community in Argentina. All I heard was English tea and crumpets and after drinking what is being passed for tea here on the ship, I just said yes without going to the bathroom first.

While the drive was like a trip down California’s I-5, the little town was remarkable. A beautiful, full river flowed with horses enjoying a natural terrain and the teahouse was delightful. The tea was worth every mile. The properly set tables had plated delights of traditional Welsh pastries and the servers stopped and presented song with lovely tradition. The harmonies were lush and emotive. I was particularly intrigued because I have been told that my mom’s grandfather’s family was from Wales. It made me feel a little closer to my mom today.

Puerto Madryn was founded in 1865 when 150 Welsh immigrants arrived to preserve their culture and language. The city is named in honor of Sir Love Jones-Parry, whose estate in Wales was named “Madryn.”

The Peninsula Valdes reminds me a lot of the Monterey Bay area… the water is the same color, the temperature is similar and they have large seabirds and sea lions taking over the beaches. I even saw a number of the same plants that we have back home. Bizarre to go from 95º F and 90% humidity in Montevideo the day prior to 65º - 75º F and 30% humidity today. The pendulum do swing down here in Patagonia. I saw one of the most incredible color displays during the sunset this evening… it was a light show in the sky for over an hour!

Many on board enjoyed the penguins in Punta Tombo (some 600,000 tuxed creatures). We’re going to see these guys around the Horn at the Magdalena Island Penguin Reserve on the 25th. Stay tuned…

Next stop… the end of the world! ~ss

DONNA KAY PHILLIPS: This port for me was about finally seeing a bit of the famed Patagonia. I never imagined that it basically is a mix of the Monterey Bay Coastline with the scrub landscape of the inland CA valleys. We had an excellent guide on today's not so hermetically sealed tour bus, which ranged in temp differences of annoyingly warm to too cold. Luckily our hair cut artist, Jim, has trained us well for these extremes in the wash basin :-)

What interested me about this Welsh village in the middle of Patagonia is the sheer distance these settlers travelled to get away from the English monarchy. Nothing says "leave us the F alone" like sailing almost the entire length of the Atlantic from North to South.

However, the Welsh were not keen to give up their way of life in any way. They basically dug in and eventually bent nature to their will. In the middle of a very arid environment, there is a lush green valley, much like the golf courses of Palm Springs. Gorgeous landscaping and lushness abounds because the Welsh didn't stop at the beach, they pushed on until they found the one main river that could provide them the resources they needed to create a small Welsh village in Gaiman.

The town is kind of a "don't blink or you'll miss it" sort, very quaint and manageable. The houses are a strange mash up of ornate Welsh trimmings on Argentinian Style structures, it works in some strange way. The tea house was lovely and the tea was excellent along with the Welsh choir. It provided a much appreciated touch of civility in what appears to be a very challenging environment.

My favorite moments of the day were more organic however. I met a sweet German Shepherd running around the stunning gardens (that look just like our Pacific Grove gardens) checking out the turistas at the gate and giving kisses. I wandered over to the park across the street from the tea house to find horses eating from the large grasses across the sparkling green river, very peaceful to observe. I then found Diane on the swing set and got her and then Sandy to join me on the old school see-saws.

We headed back for the long drive to Puerto Madryn only to be dropped off by the beach in town where I discovered a combo event of bunji trampoline jumping. For $3 I gave it a whirl and had a blast jumping higher than I've ever gone while looking out over the stunning blue waters of Puerot Madryn. A couple of local banditos walked us back to our shuttle - we took the opp to swap words in Spanish and English. This port really brought out the kid in me, it was fun and I can barely contain myself for the journey forward to the end of the world - Cape Horn. -dkp