Puerto Madryn is a town on the east coast of Argentina and basically the only reason you go there is to have a place to stay while you visit the wildlife on Peninsula Valdes. The town itself is entirely focused around tourism, which to me felt a little sad. But Peninsula Valdes was worth the trip. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Peninsula Valdes is 3625 km and is home to whales, penguins, elephant seals, armadillos, sheep, dolphins, orkas and many other wildlife. Always thrifty, Stef, Jules and I decided to rent a car, so we hopped in our Chevy and hit the long, bumpy, gravel road. Kudos to Stef and Jules for driving, I don´t know how to drive stick. (Yea, I know.)
The first day we set off to see the penguins. After 2.5 hrs of bumpy driving, we arrived at Punto Tombo which is home to the world´s largest colony of Malleganic penguins. Over 500,000 come to this reserve to mate and have offspring before migrating north to Southern Brazil. When we were there, we saw lots of penguins laying in their burrows, keeping their eggs nice and warm. It was far better than any zoo, the penguins were very comfortable and waddled around with such personalities.
A mama pinguino tending to her egg.
Just chillin.
Abbey Road, penguin style.
The next day we set out for the Peninsula Valdes yet again to get a look at the baleen whales. Our tour didn´t start till 3 so we killed some time in town and when 2:45 rolled around, they said it was incredibly windy and didn´t recommend going out. Yea right, we were going! The ocean was definitely rough and we were soaked but we got a great view of a mother baleen whale and her calf. It was a very surreal experience. Unfortunately, my camera died and I didn´t get the classic tail shot that I wanted. I don´t think most photos would do it justice anyway.
Head shot.
Body shot. Better in person!
We set back to town that night for some fresh seafood (which sadly disappointed) and were ready for our next destination, El Chalten, home of the Perito Moreno Glacier.
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