25th October: A blustery day with the dolphins

The morning was spent trying to find order in the chaos of Patagonian bus schedules.  After many phone calls, it transpired that the famous Ruta 40 was still impassible, so we'd have to take a more circuitous route down the coast.  Around midday we caught the bus into Trelew, and then another bus out to Puerto Rawson for a tour to see Commerson's dolphins.  There were around ten of us in the speed boat, which had room for maybe double that.  That meant I was able to perch right at the end of the boat, which seemed like a good idea until we sped out of the sheltered harbour and started jumping around on large waves, drenching me despite my lovely yellow poncho.

We'd been told we needed to be patient for the dolphins, but we hadn't been bouncing along for more than five minutes before they swam up to take a look.  In groups of two or three they frolicked around the boat, swimming beside, under, and in front of us.  A pair of sea-lions then arrived to join the fun, although they didn't get quite as much attention as the dolphins.  The dolphins showed off with a few jumps then, after around 15 minutes of play, disappeared.

Then began the search.  We spent almost half an hour patrolling the entrance to the harbour, occasionally being thrown about by large waves.  We saw a few more sea-lions, but they didn't have quite the same allure as the dolphins.  Finally our captain spotted a couple of fishing boats heading back into harbour, and decided to tag along.  There we found that the fishermen had an escort of dolphins, who briefly turned their attention to us.  Again they flashed under the boat, swimming alongside in water so clear that we could see them perfectly.  Leaning over the prow, getting soaked in the process, I was less than a metre above three dolphins that were swimming directly underneath the prow.

The dolphins then returned to the trawlers and their promise of fish, swimming in front of the boat and performing jumps for the fishermen, as we coasted back into the harbour.

Mid-air...

...and back in the sea

After catching another couple of buses back to Gaiman, we decided that we should probably try the tea and scones after all.  We stopped by the place that had been closed the previous day, Ty Cymraeg, a lovely little house by the river with lace table cloth.  No tourist bus in sight; we had the place to ourselves.  We shared the full works: a pot of tea, kitted out in a multi-color tea cosy; several scones; and four or five cakes, all of which were excellent (and in particular, a memorable lemon pie).  We were fairly full after sharing, so it must be quite gluttonous to have a full serving to oneself.

Tea service: buttered toast and scones,  delicious cakes, home-made jam and cheese

We retreated back to the B&B for a couple of hours of digestion, then tried to grab dinner in the place further down calle Michael Jones.  It had been closed the previous day, but was highly recommended so we were looking forward to it.  No such luck; it was full with a young tour group, all of whom seemed to be speaking Welsh.  We ended up going to a small cafe round the corner, and watched Canada play the US in Panamerican Games volleyball while we waited for our pizza.  Then to bed.