Patagonia
From the rainy Falklands we went to Puerto Madryn, a city of 70,000 in arid Patagonia, settled by immigrants from Wales. Unfortunately our tour to the provincial reserve on the Valdes Peninsula didn't leave us any time to see the town. While the peninsula is a nature preserve, it is also occupied by ranches. We saw cows and sheep grazing along with guanicos (the llama-like animals above) and rheas (something like an ostrich.) This part of Argentina is pretty close to being a desert.
Mating season is over for the elephant seals and they are resting up. But the sea lions below at Puerto Piramides have a later mating season.
This group is on one beach, while around a point there is another herd of seals.
The area was once under the ocean, and the cliffs are composed of sand and sea shells.
The area was once under the ocean, and the cliffs are composed of sand and sea shells.
Puerto Piramides.
Next: Montevideo.