Blogs from Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina, South America - page 5

Puerta Madryn is on Argentina´s East coast. If you think there is something rather Welsh sounding about the name you would be right. The Welsh were among the first settlers and their influence is still felt in the surrounding area through the architecture, cuisine and tea houses. You may even hear some of the locals chatting away in Welsh - (just as I was getting to grips with the Spanglish!) Puerta Madryn is beach resort come wildlife reserve - its quite possible to be lying on the beach with penguins as your neighbours. While we were off season we were assured that during October the area is home to over two thousand whales. Personally this doesn´t convince me of the merits of swimming in the sea however locals don´t seem at all bothered and life seems ... read more

Mother Nature has stocked Puerto Madryn and the nearby Valdez Peninsula, the Atlantic coast entry to Patagonia, with wonderful treasures that change through the seasons. I was there in the sizzling summer, in February and just in time to see half a million adorable Magellanic penguins and their fluffy chicks as well as large colonies of huge, brown southern sea lions and their little black pups, a few elephant seals imitating logs, rheas (ostrich-like birds), lots of sea birds--cormorants, red-beaked and legged black oyster catchers, giant petrels and kelp gulls--and herds of guanacos (wild camelid relatives of llamas). Not seen by me were lots more animals, including foxes, armadillos, orcas, spinner dolphins and the southern right whale which goes there to breed and give birth. The 21-hour marathon bus ride that brought me here from Buenos ... read more

We had booked our stay ay El Retorno Hostel over the phone with the aid of Skype, which has been proving very useful throughout the course of our trip. Therefore we had been able to secure a ride from the bus terminal when we arrived at just gone 7 in the morning. We were dropped to our hostel where we were met by the couple who ran the place. We were sat down in the cafe area and were bombarded with tour information, when we just wanted to go to bed. Puerto Madryn is primarily visited for the Peninsula Valdes which is nearby, and where you are able to view the southern right whale at the right time of year. Unfortunately this was not the right time of year, but our hosts were willing to sell ... read more

Dès mon arrivée à Puerto Madryn, station balnéaire de la côte Atlantique et capitale argentine de la plongée, je pars à la recherche d'un club de plongée. Ici, l'attraction principale en plongée, ce sont les otaries, suivies de prêt par les différentes épaves présentes dans le golfe. Les prix pour plonger avec les otaries sont prohibitifs car incluent l'entrée dans une réserve naturelle, mais en négociant un peu et comme je compte faire 6 plongées, j'obtient un très bon prix pour plonger sur 3 épaves, sur le lieu de vie des otaries et sur des récifs. La première plongée se fait sur le Mirages, un bateau de pêche de 70m de long. Nous sommes 4 plongeurs, dont un "expert" de la zone, qui plonge ici depuis 30 ans et une instructrice. On descend sur la proue, ... read more

Tuesday 2nd November 2010 Arriving late morning we checked in to El Gualicho, a large hostel with a spacious kitchen and living area just a short walk from the bus terminal. It was a hot sunny day, so we took a stroll down to the beach and sat for a while, but it was also windy. We had a couple of toasties for our late lunch which sustained us while we went to the tourist office. We booked a whale watching tour in the Peninsular Valdes the next day (with a great discount for cash!) and a PADI open water diving course with George (pronounced Hor-hay) at Master Divers. Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Excitement flooded through our veins as we waited to be picked up for our whale watching tour. The weather was a far cry ... read more