Puerto Madryn

 Penninsula Valdes

Estancia San Lorenzo 

Private Excursion

It's barely sunrise as our ship approaches the Puerto Madryn dock.  We can see the Viking excursion busses lined up on the pier.  Our tour, however, is a private one arranged for four of us with Sentir Patagonia.  The duration is 7-8 hours and with back-on-board time at 4:30 PM, we were ready to disembark to meet our driver and guide as soon as the ship was cleared at 7 AM.  Most Viking passengers were booked on the ship's excursions so we had no problem finding our lone guide sporting her sign.  As private guides were not allowed to drive on to the pier, we hopped the port bus for the drive down the very long pier.

Our driver was Miguel and our guide was Emily.  Both were incredibly knowledgable about Puerto Madryn and the areas through which we drove.  Geologically, this area was entirely different then our previous stops in Argentina.  Gone were the towering snowcovered mountains, glaciers and forests.  We were in the Pampas - vast flat grassland areas, dry and vegetatively sparse and the Patagonian Desert Steppes - exposed layers of soil, rock and fossils.  Our destination was Penninsula Valdes, an important nature reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Connected to the mainland only through a narrow strip of land, the mushroom-shaped peninsula and its shore are almost insular in nature.  Stretching eastward more then 100 kilometers into the Southern Atlantic, it has more then 400 kilometers of shoreline with gulfs and bays, active sand dunes, sandy and pebble beaches, rocky cliffs of up to 100 meters in height and shifting coastal lagoons.

Before long we spotted wildlife.  Miguel had en eagle eye and would stop along the road when he spotted animals or birds to see and photograph.

Our first planned stop was the Visitor's Center at the park entrance where we made a brief comfort stop and look around.  Although we do not have a photo of the exterior of the center to show, there was a look out one could climb in order to get a panoramic view of the area.

We took a few moments to peruse the exhibits learning about what we might encounter.  We were well past the Fall to December whale season but both the penguins and sea lions would have young at this time of year.

The Peninsula Valdes calm gulfs, sheltered from the rough South Atlantic, are key breeding, calving and nursig areas of the Southern Right Whale and many other marine mammals such as the Southern Elephant Seal, Southern Sea Lion and Orca.  There are important breeding colonies of shorebirds and tens of thousands of nesting Magellanic Penguin.  Terrestial wildlife includes Guanacos, one of South America's native camelid species, and the Patagonian Mara, a rodent endemic to Argentina.  There are 181 recorded bird species.

With the exception of the Southern Right Whale which had already left the breeding grounds, there was a possibility to view all of the other wildlife.  Before long our paved driving road changed into a graded gravel one and our pace slowed.  Our destination was the furthest point of the excursion Punta Norte for the breeding sea lions and possible elephant seals and orcas. 

On the map below see where we drove along 2 betwen the two gulfs - Golfo San Jose and Golfo Nuevo - then turned left onto the dashed line unpaved road heading to Punta Norte. 

 Along the way we stopped many times whenever we or our driver spotted animals or birds - a bonus with a private tour.

The guanacos were quite close to the road in groups and clusters.

 

Many had nursing young.

They were quite photogenic.

The Patagonian Mara was easy to spot also and not at all shy.

I know you are watching me but I will ignore it.

Birds were spotted but further away and not easy to get a clear photo.

Unable to identify this bird but, from its bill, we know it is some kind of seed eater.  Perhaps it is a finch or grassquit.

Birds below are the Elegant-crested Tinamou and stand at abount 17 inches.

Next we have the Burrowing Owl.  It lives year round in rabbit or rodent burrows and is often seen at its burrow entrance.  That's where we found this one.

Blends in with the terrain very well.

Never got good photos of the Lesser Rhea as they were rather far away.

The Lesser Rhea stands at 39 inches and can run at speeds up to 37 miles per hour.  To flee danger they run in a zigzag pattern or squat in vegetation so they are not noticed.

Our furthest and second stop was at Punta Norte overlooking Mar Argentino (Argentine Sea) for sea lions and maybe a southern elephant seal.  We were able to walk along a wooden pathway above the sea to observe the activity but could not descend to the beach.  But what a show it was!

The beach was covered with lazy lounging sea lions and their cubs.  Each harem was separate and guarded by a huge male sea lion.  There were several of these family groups.  The cubs would frolic and play among the watchful eye of the adults.  On occasion an adult would roll over and I caught my breathe several times thinking the pup would get crushed.

In their play, the young would venture to the waters edge to romp in the tidal pools where  the male parent would stand watch.  During our visit they were safe from Orcas because the tide.  However there were always a few single guys hanging about.  Single in that they had not yet acquired a harem.  One way to get a female was to snatch her away from the closely gathered family group which was a difficult endeavor.  Another was to gain the attention of a pup frolicing in a tidal pool.    If a pup was so diverted, the mother would leave the harem to protect it making her an easier target alone.  We saw several such attempts by the bachelors and were able to film the ensuing fight amoung the bachelor and harem's bull.

Between two of the harems we spotted two immature elephant seal males.  We knew this because they had not yet developed the bulbous nose feature characteristic of the adults. They were a low entertainment level as they were basically immobile huge blobs of blubber.  They occasionally waved a flipper in the air as they attempted to roll over.  More often they just used the flipper to throw sand over their body.

Emily saw me training my binoculars on the seabirds flying along the coast and pointed out  2 Snowy Shearbill which she said are not often seen.  I learned the Oystercatchers that I identified were Magellanic Oystercatchers not the American Oystercatchers we normally see up North.  Also spotted were Kelp Gulls, Crested Duck, and a Mockingbird.  So I was a happy birder.

A short drive took us to Estancia San Lorenzo, a working sheep farm with a huge penguin rookery, fossils and lunch.  This was a huge property with miles of  trails through the penguin nesting sites as well as around several areas where numerous fossils were uncovered.

Given our time constraints, we were guided along a trail that led to the water.  Our only rule was that we not approach within 3 feet of a penguin or block their path to the water.  If the penguins came close to us, that was okay.  How cool is that.  The area has hundreds of thousands of nesting penguins.  We saw Magellanic Penguins of all ages all along our path standing, laying, crawling in and out of their burrows and walking about.  If a penguin enters another penguins burrow, there was quite a ruckous.  Occasionally a young penguin would go to the wrong burrow and get evicted quickly.

The penguins made 3 different sounds - a sneeze like sound to clear the saltwater after fishing, the babies would make a peeping sound when a parent returned from fishing to regurgitate the food, and we heard a donkey-like braying by the adults.

When we reached the beach, we could see many adults fishing in the water.  There was a constant coming and going of adults walking to the water and waddling back uphill to feed their young.  A daily and continuous task feeding the fast growing hungry young.

Estancia San Lorenzo facility was modest looking but picturesque with a windmill.  We had lunch in their "restaurant" for visitors which was actually the building they would use for shearing.  We had a great lunch of beef empanadas, a salad of two color shredded cabbage, carrots topped with the most delicious tomatoes followed by a platter of grilled lamb and pork sausages finished with a flan for dessert.  We were able to purchase a glass of wine for lunch which we did.  $7.00 for 4 huge glasses of wine.  What's not to like about that.

During our drive we learned a lot about sheep ranching and living on the Peninsula.  Even though the Peninsula is a UNESCO World Heritage site, sheep farming is a land use and has been for generations.  Its a hard, lonely life and sheep farms are not usually run by families but a single man or a middle aged couple.  The isolation, lack of educational facilities for children and the rough living are detriments.    The windmills we saw pump water for the sheep but it is not potable so drinking water for the farmers must be trucked in regularly.  

Life on a ranch is dictated by the cycles of the sheep.  Shearing is October to November and there is a dedicated sheep shearing group that goes around from ranch to ranch accomplishing the task.  Quick and efficient that way.  During mating season 1 ram is brought in to service 200 females - another specialized job.  Bringing in a ram from the outside assures a healthy bloodline.  Once the lambs are born, all the males are castrated and all the females have their tails cut off.  Of course the neutering of the males prevents mating within the family but we were curious about the female tail snipping.  We were told the reason is so the gauchos can tell the males from the females during mating season.  Makes it easier to round up the females for their lone ram.  Some of the lambs go to the dinner table but most sheep are harvested for their wool for seven years then...  All the sheep are free range grazers.  Besides the seasonal dictated tasks, the gauchos or sheep ranchers spend the rest of the time monitoring their flocks and mending fences.

Our drive back was continued along the rough washboard road until we reached the Visitors Center at the entrance where it turned to pavememt.  The wind and rain greatly contributes to the difficult driving conditions and we were told that it was recently graded.  At one point driver Miguel stopped out vehicle to see if any car parts fell off which sometimes happens.  Choosing to take this private all day excursion brought some anxiety about getting back to our ship in time and what if the vehicle we were in would break down.  We were releived to learn that the tour guides and bus operations watch out for each other so if one has trouble another can come to rescue the passengers if need be.

On the remainder of the drive back we were advised relax and nap if we wished and to facilitate, Emily read us a fairytale from a book of stories with quite a different twist.  Very enjoyable.