El Reino Animal

Last month I took it easy, but after our long weekend trip it is time to get back to writing! Thursday evening Katja, Eline, Julia and I got on the bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn, the gateway to the beautiful Península Valdés. We located our seats, and our cama ejecutivo seats were definitely a step up from the semi-cama seats we booked for our previous trip to Córdoba. They were significantly wider, and included pillows and blankets. Surely more comfortable for a 20 hour journey!

To our surprise the bus steward, dressed in the company uniform, offered bingo games. We were not in the mood to play, but still enjoyed the other perks offered by the bus. Even though we didn’t win the bottle of wine that evening, we did find solace in the wine included with dinner.

As my friends know, I am not much of a red wine drinker. However, over the last months, things changed. I do not remember the day the love affair started, but from that point onwards red wine has since been part of my Argentinian experience. It is given at every meal, even in the bus!

After dinner I kicked up my feet, and continued reading ‘Cien años de soledad’, a novel by Colombian author García Márquez, which I have to read for my Latin American Literature course. Later, feeling a little sleepy, I pushed my seat back and lapsed into a comfortable sleep.

We arrived late Friday afternoon in our hostel, where we finally got to shower and feel all fresh and clean. The extremely helpful staff provided us with some useful tips, and when dusk settled in, we decided to take a walk around town. The city of Puerto Madryn is a popular tourist destination as it is the best place in Argentina, and one of the best places in the world, for whale watching.

Wandering along the beach, we already saw our first whales from a distance! The beach was wide and stretched, perfect for a peaceful walk to clear my head before we went out to a great seafood place.

Saturday morning we made sure to have a good breakfast before our first excursion: snorkeling with sea lions. I was very excited to do this, as Julia had shown me an underwater video of her roommate who had done the same excursions a few weeks ago. I never thought it would be possible to swim with sea lions, so it seemed like this could be an incredible experience (spoiler alert: it was).

At the office we were given a training manual and presentation containing instructions on how to move in the water. Besides, we were provided with drysuits. Drysuits are preferable for colder water, as unlike with wetsuits, the wearer doesn’t actually make contact with the water itself. As the water temperature in Puerto Madryn was around 7°C, this was no unnecessary luxury.

Putting on the suit, however, required quite some time and effort. It consisted of different parts, including two suits, several seals for the neck and wrists to prevent water from seeping into the outer suit, gloves, and a hood.

When we were all dressed up, we waddled our way over to the boat.

As we made our approach to the Natural Reserve of Punta Loma, we began to hear and smell the sea lions. Once in the water, we practiced each skill we learnt during the training, in order to avoid rough movements that could scare the animals.

Five minutes after we put on our masks and snorkels, they were around us. Some were just a few meters away, and ducking our heads down into the water exposed dozens more.

We were in the water for about 45 minutes in total, and when our guide called us back towards the boat we didn’t want to leave yet. As one last sea lion waved us goodbye, I thought we could have easily enjoyed another hour or so interacting with these playful creatures. It was a truly amazing experience!

Back at the office, we packed up our stuff and jumped in the cab: off to Punta Ninfas! We left the city center heading southwards, and soon the road turned into a sandy, stony track. It was quite a bumpy ride, and I have to admit I was little scared the car would lose its wheels and fall apart.

Though this didn’t hold me back from enjoying the beautiful landscape: the Patagonian steppe.

We had the chance of spotting some guanacos (one of the four types of South American camelids, the other three types being the llama, alpaca, and vicuña), maras (a somewhat rabbit-like animal), and choiques (a specie of rheas). As a black spot in the distance acquired the shape of a lighthouse, we approached Punta Ninfas.

In order to watch the spectacular elephant seal colony, we first had to hike down the cliff very carefully. Luckily our taxi driver was nice enough to come with us and help us descend. Among cliffs and ridges, we watched the continental elephant seal colony, and walked over a bed dating from millions of years ago. The desolation of the stunning scenery and the kindness of our taxi driver were two key ingredients for good pictures as well as ultimate satisfaction!

The next early morning we were picked up on a shuttle for a full day tour on the well-known Península Valdés. The trip had a superb beginning. On the left side we could see the beautiful scenery of the Patagonian steppe again, and on the right side the deep blue ocean.

There was a good reason for the day starting early, as we couldn't miss the sun coming out at the panoramic view of Playa El Doradillo. This is one of the few places where whales can be watched from the shore, and I was pleasantly surprised to see some whales swimming at less than 50 meters of the shore!

Then, we headed for the Carlos Ameghino Isthmus, the piece of land that joins the peninsula to the continent. Its narrowest area measures six kilometers. At this point, we could see the two gulfs, namely San José (to the North) and Nuevo (to the South). Our final destination.

As we got there, we crossed the entrance to the wildlife reserve and continued to Puerto Pirámides. This small traditional village is an important tourist attraction for spotting whales, as the highly coveted expeditions to go whale-watching set sail at this spot.

We got ready for the occasion, and put on our life jackets. Then we embarked on our cruise, and set sail. The well-known Patagonian wind was present, but this was compensated for by the sun. Within the first 15 minutes in the bay we already got the first privileged view of a huge southern right whale and its calf, and there were more to come! For one and a half hours we watched these immense creatures gliding past, and showing off their beautiful tales. On average, the whales were between 15 and 17 meters, and the boat tour allowed us to get really close. Simply breathtaking!!

After our sailing experience we enjoyed a fabulous home-made lunch on the waterfront, and with the bright sun upon my face and the winter sport cold air, my mind wandered off to Austria for a moment.

The tour continued and after another hour (perfect timing to digest our lunch and take a little nap) we arrived at Punta Cantor. From this sheltered bay we had great views of the elephant seals in their natural habitat, even though we couldn’t go downhill like at Punta Ninfas. Besides, our tour guide had another surprise for us: a close encounter with penguins. Most penguin tours focus on Punta Tombo, which is home to the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony. Close to one million are estimated to come here on annual basis, though we didn’t go there as we were too early for the season. Therefore, this encounter marked the end of an amazing day, and I was pleased to head back to Puerto Madryn full of incredible memories.

Monday, our very last day in the Patagonian coast, we decided to go back to Playa El Doradillo to check out the whales one last time. We negotiated a deal with the same taxi driver, meaning we got a private transfer, just over an hour sitting on the beach watching the whales, and then a return back to our hostel. We timed this to coincide around high tide.

There are several beaches in the El Doradillo area, and we found that the most active was Playa Las Canteras. So, there we settled for an amazing show from the whales. We spread out our picnic blanket, and wrapped up to keep warm as the wind made it freezing cold. We saw many mothers and their calves cruising up and down the shore line, literally a stone’s throw away. It was really special to stay at the beach, and yet be so close to those magnificent creatures!

As our trip was over, I felt immensely happy. There was no doubt that this is the kind of satisfaction provided by exposure to the great outdoors, that is, nature.

On our way back home to Buenos Aires, we decided to give the bingo game a try.

Guess what? Katja won, and so we toasted one last time to our incredible trip before the steward turned off the lights.