March 3, 2019 – March 5, 2019

Since we quit our jobs, we rarely set an alarm to wake us in the morning. I love letting my body decide when it is ready to get out of bed, of slowly waking up without any annoying, demanding “beep, beep, beep”…who doesn’t? But, there are a times that are worthy of setting an alarm…..to go skiing, to go hiking, to go to the airport…..and now we can add, to go and see the parrots on the cliffs at Balneario el Cóndor as the sun rises.

Along the beach just west of the small village are sandstone cliffs that run for several kilometres. These cliffs are home to the largest colony of burrowing parrots in the world. There are thousands and thousands of parrots here, and we had read that they are most active at sunrise and sunset. We first visited the cliffs at sunset, but with the sun behind the cliffs, it was difficult to get any photos. We decided to get up early the next morning and see the cliffs with the morning light shining on them.

We had a few wonderful days here and, interestingly, the parrots, which were a highlight of our visit to this village, seem to be largely taken for granted. This was evidenced by the presence of only two other people on miles of beach on the mornings we visited. It may, however, have something to do with the Argentinian penchant for late rising after eating large amounts of meat from a parrilla, with wine, late into the night.