Puerto Madryn for a spot of whale watching

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After our adventures in Bariloche the next stop on our tour of South America was a place called Puerto Madyrn. When we first arrived in Puerto Madyrn we soon realised that there was not much to do apart from whale watching. Bim, Turner and myself were very keen on whale watching but were quite concerned for Gareth knowing that he did cry watching Free Willy and we didn't want the experience to bring back all them sad memories.

Once again we were the last to board the mini bus to leave for the Patagonia National Wildlife park - if only they could make these trips a little bit later in the morning we'd be fine. Our guide for the day was Hugo, an Argentinean wildlife enthusiast who talked for the whole 1 and 1/2 hr journey to the national park, it was very hard to stay awake and not appear to be rude but the bumpy ride was just too much and it wasn't long before we were all asleep. When we woke, we picked up our life jackets and climbed aboard our boat to find some whales. It was a fascinating sight to see so many whales up close and we were lucky enough to see one leap from the water in the far distance - An image i'll never forget.

After the whale watching we went to another part of the coast to see Southern Seals bathing on the beach waiting to give birth to their cubs and once again it was an amazing sight to see and one that we'll probably never get to see again. It felt like we were in a David Attenborough wildlife documentary until we were then dragged to a boring museum which was rubbish before heading back to our hostel. A great experience and no tears from Gareth.

During an evening in Puerto Madryn we went to see the Poisedon at the local cinema for the bargain price of a pound but in hindsight i don't think any of us would have even paid that after seeing the film. However the night was still young when it finished and we stumbled into the local casino for a laugh. Making the most of the pounds' strength over the Argentian Peso we took over at the black jack table looking very out of place and enjoyed a night gambling pennies.

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