Animals Around Puerto Madryn

After our weeks of hiking in the Lake District and Patagonia, Tom and I were looking forward to a change of pace from all of the walking around in the wilderness. We saw some stunning scenery and met some great people, but we were still ready for something new.

We headed up the Atlantic Coast and decided to stay near Puerto Madryn, Argentina for about a week. The biggest draw? Wildlife.

I promised my mom that we'd see some penguins on this trip of ours, but up until Puerto Madryn, we'd had little luck in that regard.  We didn't make it as far south as Ushuaia, the streets of Puerto Natales were home to little more than tourists, and there was not a tuxedo-clad bird in sight around the glaciers of Torres del Paine.

So we rented a car with another couple and headed to the Punta Tombo reserve outside of Puerto Madryn.

And that's where we got to hang out with this guy:

And this one:

And these:

It was molting season, so some of the penguins were in an awkward transition. Sort of like puberty, but with feathers:

Keeping the momentum of our animal sight-seeing kick going, we rented bicycles the next day and headed to Punta Loma (14 km one way) to see sea lions bathing on the shore.

This is me resting, not falling

- R