Argentina

November 6-29, 2009

November 10: Punta Tomba and Gaiman: Gaiman

On our way back from Punta Tomba, we decided to stop in Gaiman in the hopes of arranging accomodations for the night in Puerto Piramides as well as to visit the Parque Desafeado and to have some tea. (Gaiman, like Trelew, is known for its Welsh history and teahouses.) So we headed first to the tourist office. Unfortunately, all the accomodations we had looked up ahead of time were already full and we weren't having much luck with any places in Gaiman either so we decided our best bet would be to try again later back in Puerto Madryn. Putting accomodations concerns aside for the time being, we decided to check out the town of Gaiman.

The tourist guide at the info center had outlined a whole tour of Gaiman (in Spanish, but nice and slowly!) and the first stop was the old railway tunnel just outside the center and the lookout on top of the hill.

We wanted to check out a paleontological outdoor museum nearby but as time was running short, we decided the kids would probably enjoy the Parque Desafeado more and headed there instead. Afterwards we were all quite hungry and we had a late lunch/early dinner at Ty Cymraeg, one of the villages' typical Welsh casas de té. Here one of the descendants of the original Welsh pioneers that settled in this area serves tea in the original family home. we had cake, toast, scones and home made jams. One of the most typical cakes is the torta negra (Welsh black fruit cake), which is traditionally given at weddings, to be eaten on a couple's first anniversary.

After tea we stopped to get some cash at a bank machine, drove a couple of streets to see some of the town's original buildings, and then headed back to Puerto Madryn to find the tourist info place. Despite the sign indicating service in English, the woman working at the info place refused to speak any English (I say refused cause although she said she didn't know English, when I went back later she spoke English fine!). So again, with my rudimentary Spanish supported by pictures and charades, I managed to get us accomodations.

Because we had the car, we settled on a new apartment style accomodation just outside the downtown core. That way we had a kitchen and separate bedroom for 200 pesos a night. Eduardo, the owner of "Angua" met us and set us all up in our apartment. Rubby took the pullout bed in the main room and the kids slept in the bedroom, with Christopher sleeping in a 'nest' on a mattress on the floor. A wonderful, clean little spot which we would recommend to anyone coming to Puerto Madryn!

The arrival of the Welsh
In July 1865, after two months at sea, 153 Welsh men, women and children who had fled Britain to escape cultural and religious oppression disembarked from their clipper, the Mimosa, and took the first steps into what they believed was to be their Promised Land. Here they planned to emulate the Old Testament example of bringing forth gardens from the wilderness, but though the land around the Golfo Nuevo had the appearance of Israel, its parched harshness cannot have been of much comfort to those who had left the green valleys of Wales. Fired by Robert FitzRoy's descriptions of the Lower Chubut Valley, they explored south and, two months later, relocated - a piecemeal process during which some groups had, in the words of one of teh leading settlers, Abraham Matthews, to live off "what they could hunt, foxes and birds of prey, creatures not permitted under Mosaic Law, but acceptable in the circumstances."
The immigrants were mostly miners or small merchants from southeast Wales and had little farming experience. Doubts and insecurities spread, with some settlers petitioning the British to rescue them, but when all avnues of credit seemed closed, vital assistance came form the Argentine government by way of provisions and substantial monthly subsidies. And despite initial mistrust of the Tehuelche, the Welsh learned survival and hunting skills from their native neighbours, which proved invaluable when the settlers' sheep died and the first three harvests failed. By the early 1870's 44 settlers had abandoned the attempt and sixteen had died, but optimists pointed to the fact that ten new settlers had since arrived, and 21 Welsh-Argentines had been born into the community. They decided to stick it out.

With increasing awareness of irrigation techniques, the pioneers began to coax their first proper yields from the Lower Chubut Valley, and recruitment trips to Wales and the US brought a much-needed influx of new settlers in 1874, the year in which Gaiman was founded.

Coming into Trelew... this town was much bigger than Gaiman but not very picturesque looking.

A bunny! Mmmmm, welsh rabbit for dinner tonight? ;-)

Lots of garbage and bizarre modern suburbia housing in Trelew.

The garbage is not a strange sight around a city in Argentina, but dogs on leashes are...
generally dogs are always running around free.

A chapel on the hill coming into Gaiman.

Croeso (welcome in Welsh) to Gaiman!

At the Gaiman visitor centre.

Bird

The kids are having a nap.

View of the abandoned railway tunnel from the information centre.

Constructed in 1914, this abandoned railway tunnel seems to be getting a facelift.

Rubby decided to walk the length of the 300 m long tunnel.

View of Gaiman from the lookout.

Pretty flowers along the sidewalks.

Looking down the main street of Gaiman.

Lots of very proper, clean looking houses and properties.

An odd house where the river flows right under it!

Another quaint little house.

A not so pretty factory on the other side of the river.

Time for a spot of tea at Ty Cymraeg!

To start, some bread and scones with jam and cheese.

Then come all the cakes!

And of course some tea for momma and poppa while the kids have their water bottles.

In the courtyard on the way to the loo.

Christopher found a pint-sized picnic spot for himself.

Sammy with her beautifully wrapped doggy bag in front of the fireplace.

Some of the antique furnishings of the welsh house.

Sammy takes a little rest.

The Gaiman church.

A quick stop at the bank machine.

Collegio Camwy.

Sylfaenwyd 1906. (when school was made?)

The Old Post Office.

Sign indicating Gaiman's first house. Note how the sign is written in spanish, Welsh, and English.
Primera Casa (Gaiman's First House) - Dwelling of David D. Roberts, built in 1874.