Arrival in Puerto Madryn!

Saturday, July 18th

Saturday was a lovely bus morning, which really means I don’t remember much of it except trying to sleep, getting breakfast and coffee, and just sitting! We did get lunch though, which was really exciting because it was warm! It was the first bus ride that had a warm lunch (rice).

When we arrived, we had to double-check with the lady opposite us that we were indeed in Puerto Madryn…..it was kind of small. We had indeed arrived, however, and we quickly hopped off and caught a cab. Upon entering the cab, Man, I Feel Like A Woman, Shania Twain, began to blare from the radio, and I cracked up.

We made it to the hostel, where the owner hooked us up with the top bunks in a dorm room. After settling in and locking our stuff in our lockers, we headed back downstairs and proceeded to lay out our options for how we were going to allocate our few days. The owner presented several possibilites and then we relocated with our phone calculator to figure out the most cost-effective option. We decided on the full-day excursion for Sunday and just hanging around town on Monday.

By this point, it was already night-time. We headed out and walked along the South Atlantic beach for a while, excited to be there and to be cold. There was a pier that we walked to the end of as well. Probably secretly hoping that some random whale would show up just for our special enjoyment. We ended with a walk through town which revealed the typical tourist shops, but not really that much else.

Also checked out the seafood restaurant where we’re going to eat dinner tomorrow night! And in the process, we happened upon a lovely chocolate shop, and I purchased two alfajores – one with white chocolate and the other with milk chocolate. Then went back to the hostel, where we were waiting for the dinner they were providing. In the meantime, one of our roommates, an Aussie (the other was German), invited us to join her in some wine and cheese and crackers. We had a fun discussion about random stuff, including the revelation that Sydney is not the capital of Australia.

After a bit, we headed downstairs for the hostel dinner. It turns out they were celebrating the owners birthdays, so it was a big family celebration as well. The food consisted of meat empanadas and locro, which was SO good. I also met a teacher from Spain and another guy from Germany who is headed to Australia to open his own hostel. We got into an interesting discussion with his continued snide remarks about Americans which he just thought were hilarious. The whole group ended up involved, and it turned into a fun discussion.

THEN. They brought out the fruit y dulce de leche cake, and I was in heaven. I had two big slices, even though I was already full. It was just that good. Oh, plus two more alfajores.

I headed to bed shortly after midnight, knowing that Sunday brought an early morning and a full day. It was a really fun night though. I love South American hostels!