Valdez Penninsula, Argentina

After a very comfortable 19 hours on a sleeper bus we arrived in a cool and rainy Puerto Madryn in the region of Patagonia. Originally we would have camped to explore the Valdez Penninsula but since we don't have the truck we are currently based in the hostel which has been nice as there has been WIFI and cooking facilities to help save the pennies

As a whole group we had a private coach around the penninsula leaving at 7.30am and arriving back at 6pm it was a long but great day. The weather was back to what we were expecting- sun and it made great photo taking. The penninsula is a UNESCO site for biodiversity so we expected to see different land and marine wildlife along the section of the 400km coast that we were travelling.

First stop was to visit the penguins who were just chilling on the edge of the cliff, some sleeping, some socialising others just waddling around. I could have watched them for hours. It was also funny to see them all run up the beach away from the water when the saw a seal in the distance. Also on our journey through the penninsula we saw lots of the flat scrub land that covers Patagonia and the wildlife that lives there- eagles, sheep, guanacos (a bit like a llama), maras (looks like a giant rabbit) and Rheas which are the South America relative to the emu and ostrich. The temperature here ranges from -20 in the winter to +40 in the summer so all the wildlife has to adapt to the temperature range.

Next stop was a stretch of coast which has a colony of elephant seals. Sadly the ones with the big noses weren't to be seen and it was mainly mums and pups. The photos don't show how huge they were and the noise they made was pretty special. Most of the group took a boat tour to see Southern Right whales. Whale watching is something I'd done in South Africa so I decided to give it a miss and use the money to do an activity elsewhere that I'd not done before so I happily relaxed in a beach side cafe. They came back all smiles and seemed to enjoy as they saw mums and babies bobbing near the surface.

After 3 nights in Puerto Madryn we are headed tomorrow across the width of Argentina to the western side. We still have no truck but it's looking more hopeful to dock soon and Pete and Graham will be able to catch up with us! Next stop is Los Glaciares National Park but sadly we have 24 hours minimum (we are learning that the Argentinians don't really keep to times) of travelling on 2 different buses to get there. The adventure goes on!!