Although we´d had a fun filled day at Punta Tombo, we weren´t done with the wildlife just yet (wahooooo, more pictures to take!). Nearer to Puerto Madryn is ANOTHER National Park called Peninsula Valdes, literally a little peninsular off the Patagonian coast which has created a bay where Southern Right Whales, Elephant Seals, Sealions and Orcas (though unfortunately we were not here at the right time to see them - that´ll be on another trip!) come each year to breed and feed! We stopped at the beach on the way to the peninsular where whales were swimming about 10mts (if not less) from the shore....can this place GET any better?!
We started the day at Puerto Pirámides for a whale watching tour. We were expecting to just see them from afar (like other ones I´ve been on), but we were very shocked to see that they were actually coming right up to our boat (one even snotted on James we were THAT close! Hehe!!) and swimming underneath it. There was one little grey whale that was a complete show off, he kept thrashing around, rolling on his back and antagonising his much larger cousins - and all this was about 2 mts from us! Check out the pics to see just how close we were! (Babcia - you would have LOVED this place, and there´s more to come...). Needless to say - we were AMAZED!! I actually couldn´t stop smiling ALL day!
After a spot of lunch by the sea, we got back into Clio (she wasn´t liking the gravel roads and James´driving too much!) and headed off to Punta Delgada (where there was a fairly non-descript lighthouse) on the edge of a cliff. Looking down over the cliff face there were hundreds of sealions lining the beach, just chilling in the sun - the scenery was spectacular, and the colours in the sea were just out of this world dude!!
Punta Cantor was next on the agenda, and after walking the wrong way for about 20mins we found the big event - being 10mts away from lounging Elephant Seals and Sealions (with their pups) on the shore. Obviously we were behind a fenced area and weren´t allowed to talk (although some stupid Argentinian woman started yelling, she was promptly told to shussssssssssssssssssssssss by moi, I was very peeved at her stupidity! Reminds me of a time in Singapore Night Safari when I told someone off for taking photos of bats...ha! Such passion!). These elephant seals are absolutely massive - one was as big as an......well elephant! ha! Look at the pic of him with his head buried in the sand....so cute and such a brilliant Gonzo impression!
We then saw a few more penguins (James was over penguins by this stage and didn´t even get out of the car - how can you be OVER pinguinos?!), ostrich (although they were too quick to catch on camera!) and this rabbit/guinea pig/hare/dog thing (Patagonian Rabbit called a Mara)- which was soooooo cute, I want one!
It was then time to leave the National Park and head back to our ´pad´ for yummy pasta....
Just a little note about how we are finding the Argentinians: not particularly glamourous in ANY way (the opposite in fact) and they are so rude when they realise we don´t speak much Spanish. We have met the odd nice one, but on the whole they are not the nicest, warmest race - maybe its got to do with the Falklands, not sure (which, by the way, on EVERY map we´ve seen, they mark as The Argentinian Maldivas - the CHEEK!), but its not nice!
