Posted by: Jenn
For those of you curious...this is a quick photo synopsis of where we have been the past few days. I know most of you know we are in Argentina, but I think it is interesting to actually know what cities we have been to and where they are located. This map starts us in Buenos Aires where we flew to as south as you can go before hitting Antartica!
Twenty-three hours on a bus seems like a forever long ride...and it is. But I must say that it was well worth it and I would do it again to experience something as amazing as we just did. We arrived in Puerto Madryn around mid-afternoon and started planning our adventure. Because we, and most other backpackers like us, try with every bone in their body to avoid tours (unless it's ice climbing or gator hunting) we needed to figure out a way to complete this journey solo. Luckily, we met Jane and Ramey (a french couple in their eleventh month of a twelve month journey around the world) on our bus ride who also wanted to avoid a tour, so we hooked up with them and the four of us started planning our epic trip.
About two hours north of Puerto Madryn is Peninsula Valdes This peninsula is known for its abundance of sea animals visible from the shore or from a short boat ride away. The available tours take you from Puerto Madryn to the peninsula in one day and you have a short amount of time at each point of interest. The DIY (do it yourself) tour involves renting a car and spending as much time on the peninsula as you want. This is where Mercedes comes in. As you can see, she wasn't actually a Mercedes, but she sure was classy.
Twenty-three hours on a bus seems like a forever long ride...and it is. But I must say that it was well worth it and I would do it again to experience something as amazing as we just did. We arrived in Puerto Madryn around mid-afternoon and started planning our adventure. Because we, and most other backpackers like us, try with every bone in their body to avoid tours (unless it's ice climbing or gator hunting) we needed to figure out a way to complete this journey solo. Luckily, we met Jane and Ramey (a french couple in their eleventh month of a twelve month journey around the world) on our bus ride who also wanted to avoid a tour, so we hooked up with them and the four of us started planning our epic trip.
About two hours north of Puerto Madryn is Peninsula Valdes This peninsula is known for its abundance of sea animals visible from the shore or from a short boat ride away. The available tours take you from Puerto Madryn to the peninsula in one day and you have a short amount of time at each point of interest. The DIY (do it yourself) tour involves renting a car and spending as much time on the peninsula as you want. This is where Mercedes comes in. As you can see, she wasn't actually a Mercedes, but she sure was classy.
We threw (and when I say threw, I mean strategically placed...as Mercedes didn't have much junk in the trunk) our eight backpacks into the trunk and back seat, piled in, and headed for the peninsula. We arrived at around 3:00 PM and found that the next boat trip to do some...drum roll please...whale watching! was at 4:00 PM. Score! We booked the trip and an hour later I was witnessing something absolutely incredible.
The two Southern Right Whales photographed here are a mom and her calf. The calf was only a few months old and it sure was curious. It would surface right next to the boat to see what we were all about. They were both swimming so close that the calf came up for air and when it blew water out of it's blow whole we got sprayed. It was amazing.
One of the guides on the boat explained to me that the whales mate and give birth in this part of the ocean because it is a protected bay and the waters are very calm. When the mother gives birth, the first thing she must do is push her calf to the surface for its first breath because they don't know how to swim immediately after being born. The calm waters make this process a lot easier. The mother will raise the calf in the bay and 'train' it, until it is old enough to go out into the open waters and fend for itself. Part of the 'training' process involves teaching the calf how to communicate and this is why the whales jump and splash, or breach. We watched the calf swim away from the mother and she started breaching over and over again until the calf started swimming back. The whole process was incredible to watch.
Our whale adventure had to sadly come to an end. When we got back to shore we drove Mercedes to a nearby campsite and set up camp for the night. The next morning we set off to explore the rest of the peninsula. The first stop was at Punta Norte where we watched elephant seals plop around on the sand. They were funny to watch because they are so fat and don't have legs or arms so when they would try to move I'm sure it was quite tiring for them. They would plop and flop around about three times, moving probably about three feet, and then they would rest for 20 minutes.
We got our fill of elephant seals and headed for the next beach south. I ran to the cliff, excited to see the next animal, and looked down and there they were! A bunch of cute little penguins. I was so wrapped up watching the bunch at the bottom of the cliff that I didn't even see the ones right at my feet. There were a few on the top of the cliff nesting. Oh they were just so freaking cute. I tihnk I could watch a penguin walk/waddle all day and not get bored.
The last beach we went to was also known for elephant seals and the slight possibility of seeing a killer whale feeding on the seals. We watched the ocean for a while, but unfortunately we didn't spot any killer whales. However, we did see an epic battle between two male elephant seals and that made our two hours waiting to spot killer whales worth it.
They reminded me of two sumo wrestlers, without arms our legs, chest bumping each other. When they collided their blubber jiggled and you could see the rolls of fat move down their body. It was hilarious. And as if their chest bumping wasn't enough, they were making the most god-awful barking noise. After a few chest bumps, one of the males backed away and plopped into the ocean. Victory for the other one! It was quite a show.
We called it a day after that and Mercedes took us back to Puerto Madryn. The DIY trip to the peninsula was a huge success and I still can't believe how amazing it was to be that close to the whales.
We are currently on another long bus ride (13 hours) and the bus stewardess (wannabe flight attendant who takes his job way too seriously) is not letting Jonathan and I sit together. Our assigned seats are across the aisle from each other. The seat next to me is empty...
We called it a day after that and Mercedes took us back to Puerto Madryn. The DIY trip to the peninsula was a huge success and I still can't believe how amazing it was to be that close to the whales.
We are currently on another long bus ride (13 hours) and the bus stewardess (wannabe flight attendant who takes his job way too seriously) is not letting Jonathan and I sit together. Our assigned seats are across the aisle from each other. The seat next to me is empty...