2025_26 Oosterdam, Puerto Madryn, Argentina...

Today sail-in was difficult…it was so windy out on deck that I did not think the ship would be able to dock…It was a challenge, but we made it to shore in spite of those Patagonian winds. Our adventure today was to visit the Valdes Peninsula, a Patagonian nature reserve on the coast of Argentina. It’s known for the marine animals inhabiting its surrounding beaches and waters. This peninsula area of Argentina is a wild and treeless linked to the Argentinian mainland and reaching out into the South Atlantic. A UNESCO World Heritage site famous for elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas. With 250 miles of shoreline, the peninsula is a mass of coastal lagoons, sandy and pebble beaches, sand dunes and wetlands. The latter form important nesting sites for migratory seabirds, while the beaches are busy with elephant seals and sea lions. We drove to Caleta Valdes to see the Magellanic penguin colony and then to Punta Cantor to see the elephant seals. From here we made a stop at Puerto Pirámides. On the cliffs overlooking Puerto Pirámides we saw the sea lion colony.  On our drive today, we saw host of wildlife and birds, there were loads of Guanancos (part of the camel family), we only saw one lone Mara (has the appearance of a large hare) and Guinea pig-like animals Cuis Chico’s. The weather was gorgeous, and our guide Roger was very knowledgeable and a kind and caring individual. It was an all-round pleasant day in Peninsula Valdes.