Well I think travelling will not be an option any more for quite a while. Therefore i thought it might be a good idea to post some old fotos and travelling stories for everybody, who might sit at home bored in the evening.
Here is number 1 from one of my most favorite countries:
The paradise of Monte Leon
We are in Argentina in the year 2008. From Rio Gallegos I arrived at Parque Nacional Monte Leon. This park is a former estancia, which was bought by the philantrope Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (March 20, 1943 – December 8, 2015) who bought and conserved more than 810,000 ha of wilderness in Chile and Argentina. The former owners kept the farmhouse, which was for rent. I stayed there for 2 nights and had the whole house for myself, including lovely food prepared by the family.
The estancia monte leon. When i got off the bus, a 4x4 in olive green came from the nearby ranger station. Two parc rangers ask me where i wanted to go and drove me to the estancia. When the owner realised, that i am German, he got two heavy volumes... the report of a german expedition to patagonia from a hundred years ago. To read during my stay.
The farm house of three bedrooms was for me alone. It is full of artefacts like fossils, indian spearheads, skulls of animals and a whole library of books, all stuff the owners have collected on their former land
The interior of the farm house
It is not a working farm any more. The old equipment rusts away in the patagonian storm
The next day the owner brought me from the farm house to the beach. From there, it is a 25 km walk back. However, it was difficult to actually walk all the way. Each time a ranger passed by in his jeep, he insisted to offer me a ride. I finally accepted
The park is full of wild life, here a lizzard
The most visible animal all over the park: Guanaco
The cliffs along the coast
The park was famous for a natural arch above the beach. However, it collapsed in the winter storms of the year before i arrived
The park houses a seal colony…and a penguin colony numbering about 60.000 individuals
You have to realise, that all this was on a piece of private land owned by one family, which rather sold it for preservation than develop it
Magellanic penguins. The park housed a colony of 20 000 breeding pairs
Baby magellanic penguin
Juan the former owner
