MUNGO EATS Latin America

The drive yesterday went well yesterday and we ended up in Gaima’n just in time for high tea.  This town was first settled by a group of Welsh immigrants trying to create a “new Wales”.  Initially all the signs, school, everything was Welsh, but eventually most of the Welsh left, leaving behind only the tea  houses.  High tea involves a lot of tea, bread, scones, and countless amounts of cakes, tarts, and other pastries.  It was definitely enough to fill our bellies.  We parked almost directly outside the tea house, and of course, we had to leave Mungo in the van.  It was actually a bit warm, not the crazy heat of other oceans, but warm enough that I thought Mungo might be a bit hot.  The front windows were open a small amount. 

After being in the tea house for a few minutes, I could hear Mungo barking.  In the same way that a Mom knows her kid’s cry, I KNOW Mungo’s bark, and it drives me crazy to hear it.  I know that it doesn’t really bother anyone else to here him bark, especially here in South America where EVERY dog barks, but when Mungo barks he is either really excited (like when he sees another dog), or he is very distressed (like when his whole family abandons him to go for high tea).  If he is in his kennel, in the van, he NEVER barks.  Also, we have discovered another trick.  When he SEES his kennel in the van (even collapsed), he doesn’t dare bark, because he thinks we will put him in it.  The kennel is usually stored in the bedding in the back of the van, but just pull it out and he immediately jumps to the back of the van and looks at you with eyes that say, “no need to put me in that thing…I will be good, I won’t bark and I will just lay here in the comfy floof”.  So, I went to the van, pulled out the kennel, watched my dog turn into a perfectly calm, sleeping in the back dog, and I went back in the tea house to enjoy the rest of my tea.

When we came back out, I was surprised to see Mungo sitting in the front seat, since he usually will not pass the “scary kennel”.  He was quiet though, not barking, just sitting up front.  We have a large wooden box between the front seats of the van, where we keep things like maps, guidebooks and various other things that seem to get in the way, and some of these things were pulled out of the box.  At first I thought that Mungo pulled stuff out of the box, but soon it became apparent that someone had been in the vehicle and we had been robbed… AGAIN.  Now, I hummed and hawed about even sharing this little fact with you all, because I am sure you are all thinking that we are complete MORONS, that should have learned better the first time.  I agree with you.  We are morons, but I have to say a few words in our defence.  No matter where we go we attract a huge amount of attention.  We are not a “local” vehicle and people go out of their way to come have a look at us.  Yes, the windows were cracked a bit, but I honestly never thought a stranger would put their hands into a vehicle with an 80 lb dog staring back at them.  But, there is the fatal flaw in my thinking.  I am POSITIVE that no one would put their hands in the vehicle if Mungo had been in the front seat  looking at them, but  remember I had admonished him for barking and banished him to the back seat, by introducing the kennel.  Here is what we think happened.  Likely the thief came over to check out the vehicle, and saw the windows cracked and thought, “Oh boy, my lucky day. “  He started to look for goodies, and found the GPS (which I had taken off the dash), my camera and one of the kid’s cameras.  At this point, the dog had managed to wake himself from his slumber and  work his way passed the scary kennel, in a effort to greet the new stranger in the front seat.  This was probably an unexpected development for the thief, who hastily slammed the door and took off.  We think this is what happened, because the other kid’s camera (which was right next to the one that was taken), was left behind.  There was more that they could have taken that was also left behind,  so I think the thief was interrupted.  So the guard dog did his job, just in a very lazy hound dog sort of way.   

So please folks, no “I told you so”, no “oh no, not again”.  We will just have to let this go.  Just another expense for the trip.  We have replaced the GPS and my camera (again!!)  Lately, we have found the GPS indispensable and since our road maps of the area are very poor, I think we would be screwed without it.  Also, tomorrow we plan to go looking at wildlife again and I just could not bear to have only one, pretty poor camera to shoot pictures. So, I purchased another camera today as well.  I have only taken a few shots with it so far, so I am not sure if I love it of not.  It has a much better zoom than the one I lost, which I am sure I will be happy about when I see the penguins and stuff.  The zoom however comes at the cost of size and so this camera is larger than the last one (which was one of the things I loved about my last camera). 

The new camera has a setting for black and white, which is pretty cool.  I took this very artistic shot of the “guard dog” and his boy.

By the way, buying electronics in this country is no easy matter.  We found what we wanted to purchase within minutes, but to actually “buy” what you want, you have to go through many steps.  First the salesperson shows you your desired item, then he enters what you wish to purchase into the computer.  The salesperson then leads you to another desk to pay for the item.  You then go to counter number three, where another person takes you receipt and issues you an “official” bill of sale.  You then take this official paper back to the original salesperson, who walks with you to a fourth counter, where another person actually gets your merchandise for you from a storeroom in the back.  This salesperson opens your purchase and verifies that they are giving you all the parts they should be giving you, then you finally get to leave the store.  Oh, one more thing, we had to go through all these steps twice, because for some reason, a camera and a GPS cannot go on the same receipt, even though they are purchased at the same store, 30 feet from each other.

This evening we are in Puerto Madryn, on the Atlantic Ocean, just a stones throw away from the Valdez’ Peninsula Nature Reserve, where we hope to see all the cool marine creatures we drove across the continent for.  We visited the Jules Verne Eco-centre where we learned about ocean currents and tides and got to listen to the songs of the Southern Right Whales.  The kids are hoping we can see some elephant seals up close after seeing this model one in the museum.

Check out the schnoz on that thing (the seal folks, not the kids).

I am not hopeful we will see any whales, wrong time of the year, but we did see a skeleton, just to be amazed at the size of them.

Well, that is it, for this VERY long post.  Don’t be too hard on us, we will learn to keep our stuff…eventually!