Having a whale of a time on Penninsula Valdes!

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Day 127: Monday 3rd November - Arriving in the Chubut region without a plan

I get off the plane bang on time at 5.15pm in Trelew. Immediately, the heat hits me. Although still in Patagonia it is a damn site hotter than it has been the last few weeks. I can't wait to get into the shorts and flip-flops. First I need to work out what I'm going to do or rather where I'm going to stay. I know what I want to do whilst I'm here which is a day tour to Penninsula Valdes to see whales and then a trip to the nearby Welsh colony of Gaiman. Do I stay in Trelew which is nearer to Gaiman or Puerto Madryn which is better for trips to Penninsula Valdes? Can I get everything I want to do done in 24 hours and then get a night bus on tomorrow night to Buenos Aires? Decisions, decisions, and for once I'm being very indecisive. Two girls get off the plane with me and they are heading towards Puerto Madryn, where they already have a hostel booked. I decide to follow them, since I haven't got a better plan myself. Doing so forfeits any chance of doing it all in 24 hours, I'll need an extra day now but it was going to be horribly rushed otherwise.

Puerto Madryn is an hour north of Trelew by bus. We get dropped off at the girls' hostel but they don't have any room for me so we go our separate ways, agreeing to meet for dinner in less than an hour and a half. In that time I've got to a) find a hostel, b) book a tour for tomorrow c) check out the bus situation for BA. This is going to be tight, and I feel like Anneka Rice in the TV programme Challenge Annika as I rush around the city! The second hostel I turn up at is also full, but its third time lucky at a place next door. Throw my stuff on the bed and go off to check agencies for a whale watching tour to Penninsula Valdes. They all offer much the same tour so go with the cheapest. Two down, one to go and rapidly running out of time I start walking towards the bus station at the other end of the city centre. On the way I get a mild heart attack when 3 police cars, 3 policemen on motorbikes and a further couple more on bikes all descend on the area of pavement I'm walking on. Don't think I've done anything wrong, and I haven't, they're after two guys who are walking in the opposite direction, literally metres away. Once in the bus station I book a ticket to BA for the night after tomorrow. I could go tomorrow but that feels rushed and going to this Welsh settlement intrigues me so I forfeit an extra night in BA....I must be mad!!??

By the time I get to Cat (a Dutch girl) and Dee's (an Irish girl) hostel I'm getting on half an hour late. Fortunately they've waited for me so the three of us head along the sea front to a restaurant a few blocks away. For once I pass on the meat in Argentina and have seafood instead. The girls are good company and its a good end to the day. Its not a late one though as we all need to be up early tomorrow for the tour to Penninsula Valdes. On the way back to the hostel I stop off at a garage to get some food for tomorrow's tour.

Day 128: Tuesday 4th November - Penninsula Valdes & whale watching

I get picked up for the tour at 7.15am. I'm surprised not to be in a bus full of other tourists, but its only me and a Spanish couple who are sharing a car with our guide Herman. It takes us a good hour to drive on to the Penninsula to Puerto Piramide, where the whale watching tours depart from. Our tour leaves at 9am, so we're in plenty of time to join the 30-40 others who cram on to a tiny boat in search of the southern right whales. The first half of the tour is good, but not spectacular as I see some whales but not that close to the boat, and normally on the wrong side to what I'm sitting on. The second half of the tour is amazing though. I manage to get a better seat and see the whales come within a metre or so of the boat and jumping up out of the water. The hour and a half we've been out on the boat proves to be well worth it. The southern right whale breeds off the coast of the penninsula and is here between June & December. They are big, measuring up to 17 metres and weighing up to 40 tonnes. They're a great sight and I'm buzzing as I get off the boat and there's still almosta full day ahead.

The three of us get back into the car, where upon we drive further into the Penninsula on dirt roads which criss-cross the estancias which inhabit the land. On the way to our next stop we see huge rodents, Rheas (like an Ostrich) and Huanacos, and at long last I manage to get a photo of a Huanaco....brilliant, completed the set!!! At the next stop near Caleta Valdes we see a Penguin nesting area, and I see penguins in the nests just a metre or so away, another great natural experience. The Magellanic penguins build burrows in much the same way rabbits do...strange! From here we drive a short distance further to Caleta Valdes where you can observe elephant seals. Its a great view looking down on them and out to the Atlantic Ocean beyond, where there are more whales just off the shore. After an hour or so we drive on to our next stop at Punta Norte. Its so hot I can't help but fall asleep in the stuffy car. At Punta Norte there is a mixed group of Elephant seals and sealions. I also manage to get lucky and see an Orca (killer whale) in the distance as it prowls the shore hoping to grab an elephant seal to eat. Eating my lunch I get hounded by a group of birds, scavenging for some scraps and when I finish there's a Armadillo scurrying across the car park keeping everyone entertained. The final stop of the tour is at the museum, near the entrance to the Penninsula. From there its a further hour and a half to drive back to Puerto Madryn.

I'm shattered after a day spend travelling in a hot car, so get some food to cook from the local supermarket for dinner before throwing the towel in. I do have a stroll down to the promenade but the beach isn't the best and its more of a port than a beach town. Reflect on a great day seeing nature in its natural habitat as I dose off to sleep.

Day 129: Wednesday 5th November - Final stop in Patagonia for some Welsh tea and cakes

I get up late and have a lazy morning as the bus I'm going to catch isn't until the early afternoon. I've bought my own breakfast from the supermarket rather than pay the extra 5 pesos (1 pound) to have the hostel's. Having cereal is great, I miss it as its rarely an option in the hostels you stay at.....its always the simple things you crave!! Catch up on my blog and emails in an internet cafe before catching the bus to Trelew at lunchtime. Its an hour south to Trelew and then a further 30 minutes by bus to Gaiman. Get to Gaiman at 3pm and its grey and drizzly, just like the Welsh Valley's I imagine....perfect! Gaiman is a small town in the Chubut region which was colonised by Welsh settlers from 1865 onwards. They established towns and agriculture in this Northern Patagonian region at the request of the Argentinian government at the time who was concerned at losing its claims to land in Patagonia if it did not establish settlements there.

I don't know what my fascination with visiting a welsh community in Argentina is, after all I never bothered to visit Wales really when I was back in the UK. I guess I'm just intrigued with the Welsh being in Argentina and also maybe its the link to my grandparents who lived in the Welsh valleys towards the end of their lives, and I have fond memories of visiting them there from my childhood. It could also be the thought of having tea and cakes at one of the traditional Welsh teahouses which are still present in the town. Whatever it is I've decided to come here rather than head up to BA, one of the world's great cities so I had better make the most of it! I start my visit around the small town by visiting the Wesh museum, which used to be the railway station decades ago. It documents the arrival of the settlers to Gaiman in 1874, has some original exhibits from the time, and shows how each of the settlers were given a plot of land to farm after their arrival from their 2 month voyage. These were truly intrepid travellers, not like myself who in the internet age of mass information has it all so easy. The guy who runs the museum is glad to tell me a bit of the history of Gaiman (I see from the visitor book that they only get one paying visitor per day, so maybe that's why??), which he knows extensively as his ancestors were amongst the original settlers. In one of the rooms I find a map of Wales, and manage to find Coelbren on it, the tiny village my grandparents used to live in.

Back out in the rain I decide to go to the tourist information office to see if there is anything else worth seeing in the town. They give me a map and point out a few places to visit. However, as I've only had an apple since breakfast my stomach is craving these cakes! First, though I head to the old railway tunnel, a couple of Welsh chapels, before at 4.30pm my stomach can't wait any longer and I go into a teahouse next to the river. For 40 pesos (8 pounds...its not cheap!) you get a supply of unlimited tea and scones and a plateful of about 10 Welsh themed cakes, which I devour in no time. It seems unreal sitting in Argentina in a teahouse which seems so British drinking tea and eating scones, with some soft Welsh music in the background....what next?? Stay for an hour and a half getting my money's worth, until full of tea and cakes I head back out into the now sunny early evening to visit the school, the original post office and Gaiman's first house. On the bus back to Trelew I put some Tom Jones on my I-Pod to get further into the Welsh theme!! I'm pleased I came to Gaiman its been interesting learning about the Welsh settlers, seeing the old photos and buildings and eating cake and drinking tea. It feels like its been a bit of home even though I'm thousands of miles from home.

I have an hour to wait in Trelew bus station before getting on the bus to BA at 8pm. I'm sad to be leaving Patagonia after 4 weeks here. It truly is as good as Charles Darwin and others before me have said. A land the size of Germany, Spain & France combined, which has some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever set eyes on. I haven't visited a place which I would describe as average, its all been great.

The bus stops at Puerto Madryn, where most people seem to get on, including two drunk New Zealand girls who are sitting across the aisle from me. One of them vomits all over herself after a short while, they're both obnoxiously loud too. I hope they'll get kicked off the bus, but I enjoy no such luck. Thankfully they soon fall asleep and the rest of the journey isn't so bad. The bus arrives at BA at 2pm the following afternoon.

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