After my experience in Viedma, which probably wouldn´t have been so bad if I hadn´t had steady company for a little while, I went to Puerto Madryn to check out the sea lions and penguins! The day I got to my hostel, I met a german girl who was going through the exact same situation as me. Her friend had just gone back to Germany and she was back on her own again. We became quick friends and went out for a cup of coffee to talk about our issues. Unfortunately, she didn´t want to continue her trip and had already switched her ticket to go back home a few days later. But, while she was there, we did lots together and I started to feel a little bit happier with my situation.
The first night in Puerto Madryn, I went to the brand new and very awesome Eco Museum. It was a whole lot of reading, but it explained a lot about the wildlife in the region and the Patagonian climate... and it was both in spanish and english! I learned that female sea lions are NOT pregnant for about 19 days a year, that Patagonia was under water on two different occasions and that Magellenic penguins migrate north to the Brazilian coast for the winter (they like it warm), among other things.
That night after dinner, I met some more backpackers and was finally able to talk a lot after a few days of only spanish. I actually met a girl from Toronto who knows a friend of mine from college... it´s such a small world.
The next morning, I went on a tour of Peninsula Valdes. The ride to see the wildlife was pretty bleak and uninteresting. I learned that the landscape of most of the eastern coast of Patagonia is similar to this... small brown shrubs, brownish, green tufts of grass and completely flat land. It´s really windy too because there is nothing to block the gusts of wind whipping through the peninsula. But, when we did see wildlife, it was really cool. While we were driving, a whole herd of guanaco (a type of llama) crossed the road in front of us. Soon after, we saw some giant ostrich-like birds.
The first stop we took was a boat trip around the bay to see the sea lions and some beautiful birds. The sea lion pups are just learning how to swim at this time, so they were splashing through the water and playing with each other. We were able to get really close to them on shore with our boat and I got some really great pictures! Unfortunately, we were a few weeks early for any whale watching. Our guide took us to some great viewing areas to see fossils and shells in the side of the cliffs. This was an example of how Patagonia was covered in water.
The next stop was to see orcas on the north coast. We waited around for about a half an hour and eventually someone spotted an orca swimming around near the shore. We were really far away, but it was still very lucky for us to actually see one. We waited around for a little while longer and actually saw the orca deliberatly beach itself and pick up a sea lion and then swim back out into the water! I was able to see it pretty well through my new, giant camera lense, but it still was pretty far away. We stayed for a little while longer to watch the orca do this two more times and then headed out to the next destination. Apparently, we were really, really lucky to be able to witness this. I talked to other people about it and found out that almost no one else actually even saw an orca while they were there.
Next, we stopped to see some penguins!!! and then some elephant seals. Unfortunately, I had taken so many pictures already that my battery ran out, so I didn´t get any pictures of seals. :( It´s ok though because they were not too exciting. They were just lying on the coast like big, lazy tubs of blubber.
This was a long day and by the time we headed back, I was pleasantly exhausted and very happy with how the day turned out.
The next day, I took a trip out to Punta Tombo. On the way there, we took a boat out to see these really cool looking black and white dolphins. We rode around in the freezing cold for about two hours and didn´t even see ONE! I guess I used up all of my luck the day before from the orcas. Our tour guide told us that this was the first time in a long time that they didn´t see any dolphins at all. :(
After, we did go out to see the penguins and that experience more than made up for the last. Punta Tombo is the largest penguin colony outside Antartica. There were hundreds of thousands of Magellenic penguins everywhere! Walking through the trails, you have to be careful not to step on them. They are such curious birds too. As you wander past, a lot of them will stare at you the whole way, twisting their head around backwards to keep an eye on you the whole time. Along the path, there was a guy taking a video of the penguins, and one very brave penguin approached him and tried to bite his cell phone out of his pocket! The trail ended at the ocean where there were thousands of penguins scattered all over the beach. Some were swimming in the water, others were laying in the sun... it looked like a Florida beach at spring break, but with penguins instead of college kids. :)
Overall, I had a great time at Puerto Madryn. I was sad to leave, but I was really looking forward to my next destination... the end of the world, Ushuaia!
