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Lured by the opportunity of seeing Penguins and Orca's we caught an overnight bus to Puerto Madryn. Staying with Wally and his boyfriend in a lovely quaint brickwork house on the edge of the city that had a fantastic view of the surrounding landscape. Only downside was that it was a good hours walk into the city but great for working off all the calories we consumed over easter!Â
Wally gave us a short tour of the city centre and beachfront, explaining some of the history and background.
The city itself was founded by welsh settlers who landed on their shores in 1886. The only sign of any welsh people we came across were a couple of tribute momuments and a welsh tea house which unfortunately was closed for a refurb, typical! Guided to the nearby cites, Gaiman and Trelew by the natives where they finally settled where they could access bountiful fresh water supplies.
The main attraction is the nearby Reserve, Pennisula Valdes. Desperate to see Penguins we decided to hire a car for the day to explore the island. A handful of cd's, homemade lunch, camera at the ready, we set off on our quest. The landscape itself is mostly desert and there isn't much to see apart from sheep and the occasinal wild ostrich...amusing to watch when it runs! A good 2 hour drive got us to the coastline where we were awarded a very close up encounter with some Penguins who were basking in the sunshine high up on the banks. Many more were huddled together on the beach and swimming in the shallow waters, too cute!! Further North we reached an area that is well known for Orca spotting. Many sightings of Orca's riding on the tides and taking seals straight off the beach but we guess the time we went they weren't very hungry as we didnt see any :(
However, we were graced with the company of 2 grey foxes and a very inquisitive armadillo....possibly the ugliest creature we have ever seen but fun to watch chasing visitors around the car park! We must of spent 3 hours, sat on a rock, watching in anticipation to catch the Orca spectacle. Entertained by the Seals, swimming and relaxing lazily on the shores.....reminding us alot of holiday makers, they are scarily very humanlike in their mannerisms. As the sun slowly began to set, so did our hopes of Orca spotting so we decided to call it a day and make our way home.Â
Next destination.......Ushuaia, southern most city in the world....wow!
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