Tons of reasons? Why tons? Because of the most beautiful and calm creatures in the world: Whales!
But let’s start from the beginning:
Initially, I planned to visit Puerto Madryn to see penguins in their natural environment, even if I knew I would not see crowds of 600,000 penguins in September. September, they are starting to arrive from the Arctic to find their girl to create little Penguins. All of this happens in a national park called Península Valdés. To the entrance it is a 30-minute ride from Puerto Madryn; in the park, it’s another hour to San Lorenzo, a spot in the north with the most significant area for penguins. You can walk pretty close to these creatures, even if they are timid, and “walk” away if you come; some of them might be too lazy that you can take a selfie with one of them. It’s just essential: never touch them!
Before or after the walk to the penguins, you can have your lunch at this place. They offer a very fantastic lamb for USD 35. It’s different from a European lamb, which has a stronger taste and is not my favorite, but this Argentinian lamb is terrific. Why does it taste different? Lambs in Europe stand most of the time; the ones in Argentina have to walk their whole life to find food, which makes them so much leaner and with more muscles… that changes the complete flavor.
Next to the penguin place, Punta Norta, you can find a place with Sea Lions lying in the sun. In my next life, I want to be a Sea Lion, not only having a harem but they are mainly laying 90% of the day in the sun to save energy.
One situation which, unfortunately, I was not able to see: On that beach with the sleeping Sea Lions during High Tide, Orcas can jump on the beach to catch a puppy or a small female for lunch. Google pictures about this! I hadn’t expected that Orcas would even be able to do this, but it was no real Orca season. 🙁
On the 2nd day of my trip, I went again to the national park to see some other places; the park is just huge. In total, I was with the group I was traveling almost 1000 km on the road. In the afternoon, the highlight happened. In the park, a small city called Puerto Piramides is the starting point of whale-watching trips.
Some facts about the Southern Right Whales:
- They are between 15 and 18 m long and weigh between 47 and 80 tons.
- They are coming to the bay of Puerto Madryn as the water is very calm. Why is this important? As whales do not have lips, they breastfeed with dripping milk into the water, and the baby is drinking it out of the water. If the water wouldn’t calm, the milk would float away.
- This is so important for the mummies that they are ready to suffer. The bay of Puerto Madryn does not have any food for the whales. It means that they lose tons of weight before they leave again.
- Have you seen whales jumping out of the water? It’s mainly a ritual from the man to create attention to the women.
Finally, I went on the boat with 50 other people to go out for the whales.
And for god sake, it is hard to take good pictures. 🙂
Sometimes, you watch a particular water area, but it is always surprising if they come out of the water. Or you get distracted by another whale coming out of the water on the other side. But I managed to make some good videos and pictures.
Nevertheless, the beauty of these scenes and the animals cannot get caught in a picture.
Before leaving the national park, I have seen two more animals: the Amarillo and a lot of Lamas. A lot? Yes, a lot! They are more like a plaque; they told me, “If you need one, put it in your bag.” 🙂
On the third day, I was supposed to leave early but had an eight-hour flight delay.
Luckily, I heard from a beach (Playa El Doradillo) with an extraordinary occasion every morning at high tide: as the beach has a steep descent shore, the whales are coming very close to the beach. So I took a cab for a 45-minute ride to that beach, was standing on the beach, and saw 10+ whales at the shore playing with each other… That was one of the moments of pure life.
One last thing to finish my report: I met a couple from Switzerland, driving around in their truck (more like a house on wheels) and enjoying their retirement. They are my role model; it is incredible to move around without any plan in direction or time. Visit their website at www.expi.ch.
All in all, that was a fantastic weekend in Puerto Madryn; not the cheapest one for just some days, and it was a nightmare flying the Flybondi airline, but definitely worth it 🙂
You must be logged in to post a comment.