WARNING: This is going to be a rather long post, but definitely worth reading!
Day 1(Friday night):
We flew down to Peninsula Valdes and into the Trelew Airport. From there, we drove to Puerto Madryn, checked into our awesome hotel, and then had dinner.
apparently, the lights were supposed to change colors every night, but they never did.
our room with the big beds
*Background about Peninsula Valdes: The peninsula is located in the Patagonian region of Argentina and in the province of Chubut. This place is most known for it's marine life, especially whales and seal/sea lions.
Day 2 (Saturday):
We first went to the Ecocenter in the city and were given an overview of the marine life around Peninsula Valdes. The most interesting part for me was learning about the Continental Shelf and all the different levels of water. *Fun Fact*- Seals can dive over 1,000 meters deep, while humans can only go 150 meters.
Ivan, teaching us about the Continental Shelf.
After the Ecocenter tour, we all gathered into an auditorium and listened to Roberto Bubas speak about his research on orca whales. This guy is the worlds leading expert on killer whales and he has spent the past 18 years studying a specific colony of orca whales. He has even been given grants from National Geographic for his research. He also became famous for going down to the colony and calling the orcas with his harmonica. It was a huge privilege for us to hear him speak.
Then, we drove about 20 minutes out of the city of Puerto Madryn and took a hike through the mountains that overlook the ocean. It was kind of a gloomy day but still so beautiful. The hike lasted about 3 hours and it was so cool to see all these different fossils and sea shells on the cliffs so far away from the water. This place had a beauty that I can't really put into words because to me, it wasn't the obvious beauty that we see in Malibu or Galveston (kidding). It was more subtle and plain, but somehow, it managed to completely take our breaths away.
view from our hike
Later on that night after dinner, about 20 or 25 of us gathered into my and Nicole's room for some worship. We stayed there for an hour and a half, singing and playing guitar. This was such a cool experience for all of us because despite the fact that we were in a pretty ritzy hotel, we didn't get a single noise complaint and we were all able to come together and praise God for an incredible opportunity to be in Patagonia.
Day 3 (Sunday):
Early that morning (early meaning 10 am), we packed our bags and headed to Puerto Piramides. We got there early afternoon, had lunch, and then had time to explore the tiny town until we went whale watching. Some people went sand-boarding, but a few of us decided to go closer to the water. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!
beautiful ocean
such a gorgeous day
After standing in awe for awhile, we finally got on a huge boat and went WHALE WATCHING!!
I had never done this before so I didn't exactly know what to expect. I had assumed that we were going to see a couple whales here and there way out in the water, but to my surprise, the whales were so friendly and put on an amazing show for us right next to our boat!
I barely had to zoom in for this picture.
incredible
I totally thought we were about to flip that boat.
Absolutely no zoom and probably the coolest picture I have ever taken.
After watching the amazing whales, we headed out to the middle of nowhere Punta Delgada and arrived at a quaint little resort. We had an incredible meal that didn't end until past midnight, then we all crashed until morning.
Day 4 (Monday):
Monday was our day to relax and take in all of the beauty that Punta Delgada had to offer. Because we arrived to the resort late the night before, I had no idea where we were or how anything looked. Faro Punta Delgada is a tiny resort located right next to the beach and open land. This hotel is basically the only thing that is on this part of the peninsula and the staff live and work at the hotel. Our entire Pepperdine group took up every room in the hotel and we even had to send 6 or 7 guys to a small ranch about 20 minutes away.
Faro Punta Delgada! ("Faro" means lighthouse)
After breakfast, we all headed down to see the HUGE elephant seals!! The males are very ugly but the females and pups are actually pretty cute.
hiking down to see the seals
elephant seals!
she's cute
he's not.
Day 5 (Tuesday):
We drove from Punta Delgada, which is in the south of Peninsula Valdes, to Punta Norte which is the most north part of the peninsula, to see the penguins!! After about a 2 hour drive, we arrived at a place FULL of penguins! They were everywhere and we could get so close to them.
AHH!!
So cool!
After seeing the penguins, we headed back to Punta Delgada and 5 of us went horseback riding at sunset!! It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and also one of the coldest. Being on a horse, in Patagonia, in Argentina, at sunset, made me realize how unbelievably blessed I am. I talked to my mom right before we left for the EFT and she kept reminding me how cool it is that I get to go to Patagonia, and I didn't realize how right she was until that moment. God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity to be in this awesome country and be able to see some amazing things.
(Pictures of riding at sunset will come soon! My friend Pat had the camera.)
Day 6 (Wednesday):
We sadly left our little ranch and headed back to Trelew to hike a paleontological area of the city. The hike up to the top of this mountain was pretty boring, but once we got to the top, Rafa made us all stand in silence for 5 minutes and it was AWESOME!!! Standing there listening to the wind and looking out at God's creation was truly amazing.
group picture on top of the mountain (courtesy of David Chang)
After the hike, we headed down to the city for our last dinner all together. We arrived at an Irish Pub and despite being completely exhausted, the waiters put on some music and we all had a DANCE PARTY!!
We basically have the best abroad group. Ever.
On the plane ride back, I sat next to the sweetest old man! He saw all 63 of us students and asked me what we were doing in Peninsula Valdes. I told him all about what we did this week and he got all excited and said that he was a teacher for 52 years and that he loves seeing students studying abroad. We talked about school, Argentina, God, and his family for about 45 minutes of the hour and a half flight and it was all in spanish! :) It was such a great way to end the trip.
Our Fall EFT was absolutely incredible, amazing, remarkable, and so much more! We all got so much closer as a group, which is something that we definitely needed, especially because we all don't live together. God was completely present during our time in Patagonia and He blessed us tremendously with this opportunity to explore His creation and get to know one another. This past week was a week that I will never forget and cherish forever.
I love you all to pieces.
Besos y abrazos xoxo
