Peninsula Valdes.

The so long-awaited, exciting destination in Argentinian Patagonia just off

the national route 3. To our surprise, they wanted to charge us 1600 Argentinean pesos per
person to enter the Peninsula. However, I was the only one who paid the fee though as Sami
was sleeping in the back so they didn’t see him. The peninsula is much bigger than what we
thought. We stayed three days and visited what was possible. During the first day, we
enjoyed the sun and we used the telescope to observe the distanced landscapes of the
peninsula, and some local animals who inhabit this natural reservation. In the evening we
parked by the beach and while we were parking our right back tire just flatted. However, it
was difficult to find someone who could help us there. The next city was about 100 km but
finally, we found one of the locals who repairs tires in his house. The man tried to help,
however, the tire had created a bubble and that could potentially become dangerous. He
was able to get us a second-hand tire and replaced it charging us 11k pesos which are about
50 USD. It was expensive, but we did not have any better option. When we finished, we took
Connie for a walk along the beach with the cliffs on the other side. The sun was setting down
and the golden hour provided such beautiful colours which made the mountains with the
moon an absolutely mesmerising experience. Pity, we didn’t have a phone with us to capture
it. On the other side, walking in nature without any technology is an important feature for
us, however, the real experience was grasped forever.

The next day we went to see sea lions. In their natural habitat, observing them making lots
of noise and swimming and resting on the stones. There were sea lion pups clinging onto
their parents while others were swimming and, what seemed to us, playing together in the
water. In the evening we decided to have dinner on the top of the cliffs to witness the
sunset. It is also the place where we took our main Facebook photo!
*Argentinian Diaries #5b*

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What else did we see on Peninsula Valdes? Our main reason entering the peninsula were
orcas and penguins. A long-awaited dream to see these animals in their natural habitat.
From Puerto Piramides (the only point where it’s allowed to spend the night camping as it’s
the only populated area) it’s another 70km to get to Punta Norte to see the penguins and
killer whales. We woke up early, and as we arrived the orcas (killer whales) were just
showing their appearance on the shore! As we were getting out of the car people started
shouting that the orcas can be seen, so we ran to the coast and saw several orcas swimming
and one trying to hunt a sea lion. It was a breathtaking experience. We stayed a while
observing this natural phenomenon.

Then we went to a point where Magellanic penguins stay before they migrate to warmer
climates. It was the end of the penguins’ season but there were still many to be seen. We
were able to get very close to them. We could observe them sunbathing, having their naps,
getting in and out of their ground holes and swimming. Another amazing, unforgettable
experience. We took several pictures of and with them and then we went to another point
of the peninsula to see if we will be lucky again to see the killer whales with the evening high
tide, but we didn’t have the same luck as in the morning. We went for a short walk along the
coast, enjoying the wonderful view and put our first sticker out on a local restaurant
meanwhile watching an armadillo running around there. The armadillos living around the
restaurant have gotten used to the human presence and once in a while get out in search of
some snacks.

On the way from the peninsula, we stopped by Bird Island where we were meant to see lots
of different types of birds, we were especially excited to see flamingos. Unfortunately, it was
very windy and flamingos, like most of the other birds, were very far, we could only see
them via binoculars from a far distance. They were gathered in a small circle, all together,
trying to protect themselves from the wind.

We were happy with the peninsula experience, even though we do not agree with the idea
of turning ecological parks into a capitalist enterprise under the cover of protecting natural
life… In general, it was very expensive to buy food on the peninsula and there was a very
limited source of water even for the locals…

We then continued our journey towards Puerto Madryn…