Southern Right Whale

We had seen the amazing orcas but then we were heading off to the bigger Southern Right Whales!!!!!!   When we got there we were surprised that the office was a boat!  We put our life jackets on and hopped in the real whale-watching boat and sailed away.  About 2 minutes after we got in the water we saw about 7 bottlenose dolphins, they looked like they were performing a show for us.  About 10 minutes later, we saw our first southern right whale.  We didn’t think we would see one of these huge creatures, because  its the end of the season, so we were stunned. The one we saw was a mother and about 15 metres long. The water was so clear you could see the whole body under the water. At the end it flapped its tail up gradually and we got some brilliant pictures.  

Shiny whale tail

The whales were right beside our boat

Then from out of nowhere we saw another 4 southern right whales including the first baby southern right whale with the first mum.   They were black with little white humpy things on their head. They move by flapping their tail under water very slowly. At the end the two baby whales were lying on their mums backs. They don’t seem to go very fast at all. It made me feel excited, amazed and proud to watch them. 

Baby whales on their Mums' backs!

Facts

1. The tail weighs a tonne.  
2. They are born with the grey humpy calluses on their head. The lice are white and hop on their back and make the calluses look white.
3. In Argentina, there are a lot of seagulls.  They peck the southern right whales' backs because they like the skin.  The whales lose a lot of energy trying to escape from the seagulls, and some of them die.
4. The mother is bigger than the father whale because she has to feed the babies. The babies drink 150 litres of milk a day from their mum.   The dad gets to about 14m long but the mum can get to about 16m long.
5. They can live up to about 70 or 80 years old.

BY FRANKIE

Why did the spider cross the road?

While we had the rental car, and were travelling on the muddy gravel roads on the Peninsula Valdez in Patagonia the day after very heavy rainfall, Jules at one point saw something like a blob of mud crawling across the road, but wasn’t sure what it was, something spidery or crab-like, perhaps. 

On our return journey in the early evening, I was driving at about 110kph and thought I’d run over a small bird or something.  There were no cars around so I backed up, careful not to run over what ever it was that had passed underneath us.  It was a giant spider!  We parked the car and had a look.  Not too close though, it was a big hairy tarantula.  It was stationary in the road, we just looked at it, and it reared up a little with its front two legs and we stepped back just in case.  Then a 4x4 appeared on the horizon and we wondered if it was going to be squashed.....the 4x4 passed within inches but missed it, but the wind from it passing causing the spider to roll over a couple of times though, whereupon it decided to head for the safety of the road-side.  Thinking quickly, I felt we needed to record the size of the spider with a suitable reference: "Quick, Jules, put your hand on the ground right next to it so that I can take a photo and we’ll have a reference to its size!”  (Well I'm taking the photo, so I can't very well do it, can I!) I can’t print the response, suffice to say that instead I put a training shoe on the side of the road in the tarantula's path. Not sure what we’d have done if she had decided to nestle inside the shoe, (not mine, thankfully) but she passed by the side. 

We remembered seeing one of these at London Zoo, they are apparently harmless, and actually quite fragile, but I wasn’t about to pick it up in case it was a different variety that was poisonous.  Plus it was big and hairy and I wouldn’t pick it up anyway.

That’s undoubtedly the biggest spider we’ve seen in our 3 months or so here. We wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t see any larger ones now, thank you very much. 

Relaxation and calm at Estancia La Margarita

We wrote a couple of days ago about our horse riding experiences, but that is only a part of the story of our relaxing stay at the Estancia, and in the rushing about of the ensuing week, albeit with fantastic animal observation experiences, and very long bus journeys, we have found ourselves looking back on the calm of those few days and wishing we had a few more to spend there.  

On the first day, within an hour of arriving, the boys had a great time milking the cows and enjoyed a very fresh cup of warm milk.

"But there's not much coming out?"

"No Frankie, it's like THIS!"

And whilst the horse riding was the main focus for channelling the boys energy it was by no means the only one, participating in a variety of other activities including cycling (bikes for both on the estancia) table football and table tennis....

Brian entertaining the boys as usual!

Spoilt for choice

......and indeed sideways hammock jumping, which the boys took to very enthusiastically, Frankie unable to beat his record, though, of 5 metres at Cabo Polonio! 

On reflection too, it was one of the rarer times this trip when we could give the boys some independence and just let the boys run around on their own and be confident that they would be fine, which, aside from Louis somehow cycling into a window - no damage - to Louis, at least, (sorry David) they achieved, giving Mummy and Daddy some relaxation time ourselves. 

Glass of wine please, Louis!

Aside from the activities above, plus the horse riding, sleeping and eating, if we couldn't find the boys, we know they would be off playing with the four kittens....

Shhhhhhhhh! Tigre's asleep!

Louis, Frankie, Tigre, Negra, Chaussette and George

And it wasn't just our boys who were fond of the kittens - Antoine, from Belgium, one of the great volunteers, was very keen too!

Antoine with Chaussette, which explains why the kitten has a French name!

We were never too far from a mealtime, where we got to enjoy the food that Raquel, Veronica and the team prepared for us.

Breakfast is served

Mealtimes at lunch and in the evening also gave us a chance to chat with owners David and Susana, and some of the other people staying at the estancia, including three English girls travelling together whom the boys in particular really liked and were sharing stories with, and two lovely Argentinian couples from Buenos Aires, all very patient with my faltering Spanish (thanks for the Atlas Luiz, very useful when we rented a car a few days later!).  On the first night, after a delicious meal, we all sat round on the comfy seats in the lovely lounge, with host David leading the guitar playing and us all singing songs together, and although it was late we let the boys come back to join us, as they'd been sitting up in bed anyway, singing along too!

Estancia owner David, without guitar, with Baders on tour

So we were sad to leave when the finally day arrived all too quickly. We'd all improved our horse-riding significantly, and had really unwound and as well as the boys having plenty of time to play with each other, had shared many experiences altogether too, it was all in all a super time. 

One last photo before we leave

Two very sad boys who didn't want to leave. Mum looks a bit wobbly too....

We got a nice mention from David in his blog "The English Gaucho" a few days later which gave us all an opportunity to relive it for a while. Thanks for this David. 

http://englishgaucho.blogspot.com.ar/2012/11/thanks-phil-and-family-for-your-lovely.html

My extremely sporty 9th Birthday - by Louis

Eeeeeee! I'm 9 today!

We woke up and I was 9.  It didn’t feel any different to yesterday when I was 8, but I knew that it was my birthday and I was so excited.  

We began to open my presents, I got a Generala (also named as Yahtzee, Five Dice and Kniffel) Uno Dice, a multi-coloured skipping rope, a sand-boarding lesson and a surfing lesson. The sand-boarding was at 10:00 and the surfing was at 4:00 in the afternoon.  

After that we decided to read some of my birthday messages that luckily had been sent the day before so I was able to read them on my birthday, because in Cabo Polonio there is no internet. 

Happy Birthday to me!

Then we had breakfast, we had some cornflakes, some toast with jam and some fruit.  After that we headed off to the sand dunes with our teacher.  First we went down a small one and after a few goes we had that sussed out so then we went on to a bigger one. We fell over a few times and rubbed some go-faster wax on the bottom of the board and we wanted to stay on that one but we moved on.  We found ourselves on a slope that was virtually vertical and that time I asked to move on because the slopes a little further on were not quite as long on that side and Fabry actually let me.  The slopes were shorter and steeper and I zoomed down and almost went to the beach. When we had had enough we saw our teacher writing on the back of the board "Happy Birthday" and he gave the board to me as a present!!

I meant to do that!!!!

That's better.......

Happy Louis with unexpected birthday gift from teacher Fabry!

Next we went to lunch and had an omelette then it was time for my surf lesson.  We went to get our surfboards and walked down to the beach and we did some stretching, and some surfing skills on the sand to help my muscle memory with the surfing.  We got in and I was a bit cold because I only had a short wetsuit on and the water on this beach was colder than on the other beach we'd been to the previous day. He pushed me to catch the wave and I stood up the first time and it was a amazing. Mummy and Daddy were cheering me on and after a few goes I really got the hang of it.

The best moment of my birthday!

When we got back to our hostel we literally left immediately to go to the place we had booked at lunchtime, it had a lovely name called La Golosa (something to do with greedy) we had lovely food.  Frankie, Mummy and I had spaghetti bolognese with special prawn sauce, it was so lovely and sweet. When we were walking back Daddy said we were going to a pudding place and when we got there I saw people lighting candles from the lanterns and bringing them inside. I started getting a feeling that I was in for a little surprise like a birthday cake and everybody started singing "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Louis, Happy birthday to you!"  It was a lovely peach cake with chocolate drops to make my name "Louis 9". It was lovely unfortunately a girl staying at the hostel ate half my cake because I left it in the fridge.  She said she needed a top up from her 6 burgers and 10 pancakes at lunchtime!!!!

Wow my face is red!

It was a lovely birthday and one I will remember for the whole of my life.

Bottlenose dolphin

Probably a bottlenose dolphin

We all went to see whales at Peninsula Valdes in Argentina. So we got our life jackets on and headed off to the boat, Daddy gesturing to us to move ahead in the line. When we had got some way out to get to the whales, we spotted some fins in the distance, they were obviously (there is a clue in the title) bottlenose dolphins. They were doing so many amazing things Daddy tried to get all of the moves on film, but as soon as he pressed the record button the dolphins had moved into a different part of the places the eye can see.

facts

Where's my nose?

1. The bottlenose dolphins have curved mouths that makes them look like they’re smiling. They are good at mastering tricky tricks and are brilliant for circuses, not that I want them to be in circuses. 
2. In the wild bottle-nosed dolphins can reach up to and over 18mph (and 30kph).They normally travel in groups, all of them have their own complex whistles.
3. Bottlenose dolphins track their prey down through brilliant use of echolocation.They make up to 1,000 squeaking noises a second. These funny sounds travel until they hit something and then race back to the dolphin revealing the size, shape and location of the animal (unless it is a branch!!)
4. Bottlenose dolphins can live up to 45 to 50 years old. They are 10 to 14ft (3 to 4.2m) long.
5. Bottlenose dolphins are known to jump out of the water 16ft (4.9m) and land back down on their side or back. We weren’t lucky enough to see that amazing sight but even if we did Daddy would probably not have got it on camera!!!!    

    By Louis

Horse-riding at Estancia La Margarita

We arrived at the Estancia La Margarita yesterday and immediately warmed to the tranquility of the place.   A few hammocks dotted around the extensive lawned areas, some huge trees, the place almost like a large English country house.  Looking around, it was a beautiful setting.  Beyond the immediate gardens, green fields stretched to the horizon all around you, a lake not far away, some cows here and there and the occasional clump of trees, we were in the middle of nowhere and we’d have unlimited space for riding. 

The Estancia La Margarita

We had our first horse riding trip at 5pm on our first day, the four of us plus Jilde, a volunteer from Holland, and Brian, a seemingly unlikely name for a cool young Argentinian gaucho. (Bwian, Eh?) The horse trip was fun, we had a horse each, Louis and Frankie really excited at getting on their horses, Picasso and Dolores. They’d remembered how much fun they’d had in the Pantanal. Once we'd all inelegantly climbed on, we did a slow walk across some open fields, near the lake, with the occasional very bumpy trotting, it felt very relaxing.  Except for the trotting part.  Trotting feels very awkward, bouncing up and down seemingly completely out of time with the horse, it felt like my bottom was a foot off the horse each time.  I asked the gaucho for some advice, couldn’t understand a word he said in a long stream of rapid Spanish, but picked out the word "fuerte" - strong - and he seemed to be gesturing with his knees, so I tried that.  Might have helped a tad but not much. Did wonder how you ever get past that point, I seemed so inept and wobbly, and would have made a good advert for how not to ride a horse. Jules and the boys were looking pretty comfortable though and didn't seem to be bouncing around as much.

Ready for action!

The boys were loving it and always want to go faster, it reminded me of when we went skiing together, its all about speed for them.  You could see even that although the horses were just walking, the boys were trying to get their horse to walk a little faster than the others. Frankie in particular looked tiny astride his brown horse. We had already asked to ensure that we all had riding hats as people out here prefer the free-flowing “wind in your hair” approach. Fine if you are an expert I suppose, but I remember seeing the chunk that broke off my father’s helmet when he fell while rollerblading last year, (let’s just say he probably wouldn’t have got straight back up again if he hadn’t been wearing it).

Louis and Frankie vying for position

On our second morning ride, we had the same horses as before.  Antoine, a young Belgian volunteer was with us and given he spoke good English, I asked him for some tips as we were riding along.  He said "You need to keep your back straight, and pretend you are making love."  That’s all very well, I thought, but we are going to be out here for an hour and a half. 

A sunny day in the limitless countryside

My horse, Diabla, is apparently a very good horse that others like to ride. In my very limited experience (one ride in the Pantanal and a slow plod around a circular pen in Thunder Bay a couple of years ago) a good horse would be one that does what you want it to do and doesn’t pursue personal ambition at your expense. I’d been pleased that Diabla had fitted that description precisely on the first trip, which was gratifying.  Every now and then she’d start to trot, perhaps if an adjacent horse trotted, but would obediently slow back down to a walk if you indicated as much with the reins. 

Today however, she seemed to have different ideas, and as we passed through a very large field with cows, the dogs with us were off chasing them and my horse decided to join in - apparently they do a lot of cattle herding - just at the moment I thought I’d try and capture a photo of the group behind me with the Bader ActionCam. I had to hurriedly put my camera back in my pocket with my left hand and hang on, hoping not to fall sideways. In my panic I forgot to actually pull on the reins and instead I was saying “Woah” - which I later found out in Spanish actually translates to Oooooooooooh! (seriously) which was why she ignored me.  Then I remembered the reins and pulled on them and she slowed right down again. I looked around and the group were already some way behind me.  Still in a group.  I felt very much on my own, no rescue party here.  I turned Diabla round - she was very obedient for slow turns - and headed back to re-join the group. Jules was the only one who seemed concerned, asking if I was OK, she knew I had no clue what I was doing even though everyone else had assumed I was just off for some exercise. I explained it was terrifying, but there was something almost intoxicating about it.  I remembered what one of the expert volunteers had said yesterday - galloping is smoother than trotting - and it was true, it had been smoother, but it was just the sheer speed and acceleration that took me by surprise.  

For a while after that I felt like somebody at Sothebys trying NOT to buy anything, with an over-zealous auctioneer reacting to the slightest twitch.  I didn’t want to give Diabla any signals to take off again.  However whenever we went through a gate to an open field, she was off, each time I let her go a little further before slowing her down.  It did feel really amazing, and I tried to follow the advice of sitting back in the saddle and squeezing a little more with your knees.  I had to admit I was starting to really enjoy this, even though I felt completely unskilled for the experience, and like I could topple off the side at any moment, wondering whether it was a good idea to have my trainers jammed into the stirrups after all. 

Afterwards, Louis said he had enjoyed it but wished his horse would go fast like mine. Recalling how I felt in the moment, and Jules seeing how white I had gone after the first galloping experience, we were nervous that the boys might panic if this happened to them and organised a separate lesson for them to practice that afternoon with the gaucho and Antoine, who is an excellent horse rider. We wanted our boys to feel in control so that if and when their horse starts going more quickly, they felt confident and relaxed about what to do.

Boys concentrating hard in their lesson

Frankie under instruction from gaucho Brian

The lesson was going well, Louis and Frankie trooping up and down the paddock in their 1-2-1s and gradually learning about the basics of horse control.  Then as we watched Frankie at the far end of the field, his horse started racing off ahead of Brian, the gaucho teaching him. Jules and I were talking to Pablo, the senior gaucho, at the time. We could hear poor Frankie crying out as the horse, oblivious to Frankie’s plight, galloped on at pace. Pablo was shouting something urgently to Brian across the field - no idea what - we willed Frankie to hang on, which to his credit and our immense relief, he did, and eventually Brian caught up with him and the horse slowed.  Brian got Frankie down and gave him a cuddle.  Poor Frankie was shocked and in tears.  After a couple of minutes, Pablo got back on the horse with Frankie this time and they rode around slowly together. By the end of the lesson, Frankie was riding on his own again, we were pleased that he’d agreed to try again in the same lesson and he seemed almost proud that he’d galloped!   He recounted, of the moment, “My hat kept falling in front of my eyes so I couldn’t see anything and just hoped for the best!”  He didn't get past a slow walk again in the ensuing rides, but next time we go riding it's something he wants to try.

Frankie rides with Pablo for a while after his scary gallop!

Louis meanwhile was getting on very well with Antoine, and we were truly amazed when the two of them came back along the dusty road at speed, Louis looking very natural and happy. He doesn't always seem so bothered about sports involving a ball, but is good where balance is involved.

Over dinner we reflected on what it was like being nine years old. Louis said he liked being nine, he’d already enjoyed sand-boarding down a large sand-dune, surfing on some rough waves, whilst remaining on his feet, and had fun horse-riding all just in the first nine days since his birthday!

Back to basics in beautiful Cabo Polonio

Expectations were running high for our trip to Cabo Polonio although precisely what we were expecting was hard to pin down.  Our primary reason for going there was for Louis to have an adventurous and memorable 9th birthday.

You read about how there is no internet, no mains electricity or water and no roads, so you can only reach Cabo Polonio by a dune-riding 4x4. But in some way, focusing on what isn't there is a distraction from its real value.  People are there because they love being there, and its easy to see why. The two beautiful sandy beaches are joined by a rocky point, marked by a lighthouse and home to one of the largest sea lion colonies in South America.  The beaches are set at about 45 degrees to each other, so you are never far from the sound of crashing waves. Small colourful shacks, no two the same, dot the grassy landscape, seemingly in random positions, with the exception of those alongside the sandy path that passes as “main street.”  They all have a rustic and dated feel to them thanks in part to the Uruguayan government forbidding new builds. 

Cabo Polonia from the lighthouse

"Main street!"

The locals here - about 70 apparently - exude a certain calm and contentment. You hear varied stories of how people ending up here.  For example, someone who used to visit as a child and always yearned to return; a lawyer who jacked it all in mid-career and set up a charming little restaurant with pasta sauces better than we've ever tasted; a surf teacher who has lived and surfed all over the world but prefers to live and surf here; passing backpackers who decided to come here and set up a hostel of their own; and people born here who just never found a good enough reason to leave - everyone has a story to tell. 

And at this time of year, at least, it is peaceful and quiet - high season doesn't start for another month, so quite a few places are still closed. There's just one little convenience store, thankfully with a green flag fluttering high above it so you can orientate yourself, where you can get fruit, veg, water and other essentials for preparing your own meals.

Hostels on the beach

Cosy room with sea view!

We stayed at Cabo Polonio Hostel, a quaint, charming old place on the beach, some hammocks outside and an assortment of memorabilia to attest to the years of backpackers passing through. The small TV set on the sand dune in front is a reminder that this is indeed, "something completely different." There is a laid-back feel to the place, and the long wooden table outside encourages conviviality and sharing of travel stories amongst backpackers and staff alike. Somehow the gas-powered shower is all part of the charm, even though you irrationally fear it might explode at any moment when it’s lit. 
There is a tiny primary school with one teacher serving the five primary school age children that live here. Watching our boys writing their journals at the table in the open fronted hostel, occasionally looking to the sea for inspiration or distraction, gave us a momentary insight into the appeal of school here. 

The safari style 4x4s

We’ve not seen more than half a dozen people on the beach at once, perhaps less a reflection of the weather and more an indication of how few people there are here, even including those passing through.  The exception is when the big 4x4 safari style trucks occasionally rumble onto the beach, the occupants waving and cheering when they pass you, reminiscent of a school outing for some very lucky children. 

It has been a special five days for our family here. Ambling along the beach on long walks together, some lazy hammock time, some homeschooling (even in Cabo Polonia, sorry kids!) swimming and jumping in the waves, enjoying surfing lessons and sand-boarding, climbing - and drawing - the lighthouse, watching the sea lions play, whilst getting to know new people that both come and go as well as reside here. 

The highlight was Louis’ 9th birthday. After waking in our double bunked-dorm, and wishing Louis Happy Birthday, followed by a dozy rendition of the song, we opened a few small presents we’d picked up in a store in Montevideo.  Luckily, Sebastian, who worked at the hostel, had been able to arrange both a sand-boarding lesson and a surfing lesson, as we’d hoped.  Louis surprised even himself by remaining on his feet for much of both. To cap it all, the lady next door even managed to bake a lovely peach and chocolate cake for Louis at a day’s notice.  The candlelight rendition of Happy Birthday that evening as we brought Louis the cake at the table outside is one of his many happy memories from the day.

Louis’ memorable and adventurous birthday had been achieved, and he is busy writing his version!

"The museum of the children"

We visited a very unusual place in Buenos Aires called "Museo de Los Ninos"- the Museum of the children.  The first thing that strikes you is the price - not unreasonable in itself, but its the only time we could think of where the entry fee is more for children than for the adults, a good early indicator that this is a very child-focused place!

The Museum is basically a huge indoor area where they have created a variety of work environments so that children can pretend to do the jobs that adults do in a really fun way - everything from driving a bus, working in a shop or bank, being a dentist, to media and sports roles. It's designed in a very colourful, interesting and informative way that had the children running off from one place to another in search of ever greater excitement. 

Career choices at present are somewhat early in being defined and change from one week to the next, and often revolve around transport.  The other day we heard dustbin men looked cool because they get to hang off the back of trucks. That fell out of favour somewhat when they went on strike though.  Frankie considered the idea of being a taxi driver, because you meet a lot of people, but then discounted this on the basis he might get carsick. Then being an Aqua taxi driver looked great, because you get to drive a boat! This week we've discovered the on-line Coffee Shop Game which has got them thinking about all sorts of businesses of their own they might want to run.  

So here are a few of the fun role plays that the boys got up to.

Working in a bank, although probably not popular because they may have picked up on  Daddy's comment on all the charges for overseas transactions and how difficult it is to get money when we are travelling!

Next please!

Driving a bus, where Louis pretended to be a passenger with lots of questions.......

I'm sorry, I haven't got any change......

A few that the boys' dentist would be proud of (but has it helped them brush their teeth more rigourously morning and evening?)

Firstly role playing receptionist and patient.........

Patient - I'm going to die in 51 seconds.....Receptionist - Could you just wait a minute please?

Then getting into the real action

You must get into all the crevices.....

Say AAAAhhhh!

Spending time in the media area, the boys got a chance to be behind the camera......

As well as in front of it

And even doing some directing too!

Frankie added, briefly......

We had just arrived at our destination.  We went through this thin path and on the way up we saw lots of strange mirrors, we pulled funny faces.  We got up and first thing we did was hopping in and out of taxis.  Some of the other things that we did were pretending to be a builder in a gingerbread house and going as fast as you can in a shopping market.  You could also be a bankman and a dentist.  So we had a good time but then it was time to go back.