¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Well, 2007, a New Year, a new beginning. We are in Rio Gallegos on the east coast of Argentina. At midnight, we heard a few fireworks, and then more and more. The entire sky, all over the city was filled with huge fireworks for 15 or 20 minutes! From at least 50 different sites. It was amazing, but felt like a true celebration of all the people. We came east to get out of the rain of the mountains. Yesterday was beautiful, but today, rain. Summer in Patagonia. We were out on the river fishing, and the birdlife is amazing. As we drove, there was an adult rhea (they look like ostriches) with about 10 little ones running behind. I wish I knew the names of all the birds and ducks, with so many little ducklings I got to enjoy nature doing what it does: the covies joining, the males fighting it out to see who is master, and the loser being driven away. And a mother with the smallest little ducklings, maybe 2 inches tall, probably on their first swim. The only sound on the river are the calls of the birds. Truely beautiful. And wildflowers blooming everywhere. Of course, seeing huge plateado (sea run brown trout, that are silver) jump out of the water, was exciting too. I caught the resident browns, which have a very dark coloration, brown and red and are some of the heaviest fish I have seen. It is interesting now to see a river similar to those we fished high in the Andean Patagonia after having crossed the steppes and has reached the Atlantic. The water is no longer the clear turquoise, although still clear, it is tea tint. And the fish reflect this. Pray for sun.