Nov. 7 2016.  Night bus El Calafate to Puerto Madryn, Argentina (24 hours).

• Long, boring bus ride - my longest yet - nothing much to see either to the coast or along the coast but flat pampas.  Some nice clouds as the day waned, and two meals on the bus.  The time went a lot faster than I was dreading, so may plan on another one or two long rides later.  The bus had USB charge sockets, so no problems getting my iPhone recharged.

• Visited the Centro de Interpretación Histórica Calafate in El Calafate before I left.  Dinosaurs!

Nov 8, 2016.  El Galicho Hostel, Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

• The bus rolled in to Puerto Madryn at 1:30 PM, about 24 hours from its departure from El Califate.  A short walk to the hostel, which turns out to be clean and well organized.  The manager recommended I take the tour to the penguin colony in Punta Tombo tomorrow, since the wind forecast made whale watching iffy.  So I booked it ($70), then headed to El Classico, the best seafood restaurant in town.

• Absolutely delicious sopa with shrimp, octopi, squid, you name it.  Followed by grilled hake (local fish, pretty good), and cheesecake, accompanied by a copa de tinto.  All of this spoiled as I watched, with growing dread, the election results roll in on the big screen above the bar.  Back at the hostel I continued to track the results until about 1:30 AM, when it was clear that Trump was the victor.  OMG.  Nobody predicted this one.  Fell asleep worried, anxious, also a little excited: what will the next four years be like?