Blogs from Valdes Peninsula, Chubut, Argentina, South America - page 3

From El Calafate we travelled overnight by bus to Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast of Argentina - still in Patagonia and still pervaded by the perpetual wind. As a city, Puerto Madryn is not particularly attractive or special though the beach is nice. However, people come here to explore the Peninsular Valdes where one can see a wide variety of wildlife in one day. We took a full-day tour which first took us to a viewpoint where we could see the little island that apparently inspired Antoine de St Exupery´s picture of an anaconda eating an elephant from The Little Prince! We then went to a little port where we all donned life jackets and boarded a boat which headed out into the bay where we had the chance to spend some time very close ... read more

Wed 14th Nov: It´s been three days since I´ve been on the blog, I´m having withdrawal symptoms! Monday was a quiet day..laundry and some supermarket shopping. I realised I hadn´t eaten any fruit for over a week so was in need of some. ´Had a walk down by the river bank and took the ferry across to Carmen de Patagones again; this time I found the tourist office open but they had nothing to offer other than what I´d seen previously. There is a catamaran trip along the Rio Negro but it doesn´t start until December. I just had a walk around and took a siesta. Here most take a siesta in the afternoon and the city comes to life about 5:00pm. Because of the siesta people generally stay up very late. In the hotels the ... read more

vom Dreilaendereck ueber Buenos Aires auf die Península ValdésMarlies Kirchsteiger & Roland Trost Hola! haben den ganzen weiten weg von Buenos Aires durch die Pampa nach Patagonien auf uns genommen (18h per bus), um in Puerto Madryn auf der Península Valdés an der Atlantikkueste zu landen. Wir wissen jetzt, wo der Ausdruck "Pampa" herkommt: hier gibt's, so weit das auge reicht, nichts anderes als landschaft (grassteppe) und vereinzelt sind als highlight ein paar kuehe oder pferde zu sehen. ausserdem herrscht hier bereits ein rauheres klima und die zeiten mit flip-flops und spaghetti-traeger-shirts sind damit endgueltig vorbei :-( schade, da wir uns schon so an die sonne und waerme brasiliens gewoehnt hatten... Puerto Madryn ist eine nette, kleine stadt an der kueste mit w... read more

In order to explore the ecological reserve of Patagonia's Peninsula Valdés, we stayed in nearby Puerto Madryn, the town which grew up around a settlement founded by Welsh immigrants in 1865. There are plenty of excursions to the peninsula available from this base, as well as diving outings and trips to Welsh teahouses in Trelew or Gaiman (approximately 65km south of Puerto Madryn). Visiting in November, we hoped to see the Southern Right Whales which are present in the area of the peninsula from June to December. Raúl was also determined to catch a glimpse of an orca, or the misnomered 'killer whale'. (Apparently they're really from the dolphin family; think Flipper on steroids and with an attitude problem). Along the way we hoped to spy various other species including penguins, sea lions and elephant seals. ... read more