The bus ride from Ushuaia to Puerto
Madryn was 36 hours!! When we started this trip, an 18 hour bus ride
felt like a long time but now we are pros at it. Getting off the bus,
the warm breeze graced our face and we knew instantly that Puerto
Madryn was going to be good for us! What a welcome to not have to
wear our jackets during the day.
Puerto Madryn is a World Heritage Sight
and a popular venue to see the Southern Right Whale. The whales
arrive at the Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San Jose to mate and give birth
because the waters are calmer and warmer than the ocean. This makes
Puerto Madryn a great place for whale watching because you can get
unbelievably close to them. We booked a tour which took us around the
Valdes Peninsula which is about a 200km stretch of land where you can
see various marine life. It also takes you to Puerto Pyramides where
you catch the boat to see the whales.
Our tour turned out to be just our
driver and two other ladies who were nurses from Buenos Aires. I
guess not too many people signed up that day but tours like this are
better with small groups of people. So again, we got to practice
speaking our broken Spanish and adjusting to the Argentinian
pronunciation of words. Well more like trying to figure what the hell
they are saying to only later figure out that we actually knew that
word, just not the way they were saying it!!! We did some whale
watching at Granville Island, Vancouver seven years ago and saw Orcas
at a fair distance away. Our experience here was completely
different! The captain as she spotted whales took us to several
different locations, and then stop really close by for the entire
boat of paparazzi photographers that oohed and aahed and were
snapping away. Each whale has distinctive white markings and
callosities on its body so the guides are able to track the
individuals. Often the mothers were right next to their calves and we
even got to see a rare almost white calf alongside her mother. It was
truly amazing to watch these giant creatures and after a while you
stop trying to use your camera and just watch.
After the boat ride, we ate lunch and
took a long snooze in the car while the driver drove to our next stop
at Caleta Valdes, a point in the peninsula where you can see elephant
seals, their cubs and marine birds. The shore is covered with seals
that are basking in the sun, doing absolutely nothing except the
occasional flick of their fins to throw sand on their bodies. They
really don't do much! There are several look-out points you can go to
to see them. Then off to our final spot, the small penguin colony of
Magellanic Penguins near Caleta Valdes. Like the seals, these guys
too either lay there or just stand, squawk, and occasionally sticking
their buts out to do you know what! There is a rope barrier dividing
people from the penguins but they are close enough that you can reach
over and touch them (but your not supposed to). The colony is on the
edge of the cliff so you can also see them on the shore swimming
around. Being able to see these animals in their natural habitat was
amazing!!
The next day, we took a taxi to Punto
Loma to see sea lions and other marine birds. This look-out point had
more activity. Other than them lying around, there were some
swimming, grunting and making belching-like sounds. It's totally a
weird sound that they make! We decided to walk back, the route being
a dirt road that followed the coastline (reminded us of Mad Max), and
is about 20km from Puerto Madryn. There are some nice spots along
the way, a shipwreck, really nice views of the coast and sand dunes
as you get closer to the city. When the city was in sight, and we had
passed all the scenic spots, we hitchhiked on the back of a pick-up
truck. First time hitchhiking here and maybe not the last!
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