There was however one interesting moment towards the end of the bus ride. When purchasing my ticket I was informed that the bus from Rio Gallegos to Puerto Madryn would be direct and would not require me to change buses at any point. Happy days, or so I thought. Then we get to this town called Trelew about one hour from my destination and the bus stops. I inquire whether I need to get off here and I am told no as Puerto Madryn is still an hour away. For twenty minutes the bus is stopped and I am one of the very few remaining on it. Then on comes the bus conductor who eventually informs me that I am supposed to be on another vehicle for the duration of my trip, pointing to the bus I need to catch, which is about to take off. Understandably pissed off I rush out and demand that the bus driver gives me my bag so I can transfer it to the next bus. After a couple of minutes of serious language barrier enhanced confusion he informs me that my bag has already been transferred to the new bus on my behalf. I don´t believe him for a second. I need visual evidence of this. So in I go to the bag compartment, searching frantically, and no sign of it at all. Very angry I demand them to find my bag. The driver brings me over to some other random bus and sure of course there it is! The destination of this automobile? Paraguay for all I know! When I asked him why my bag had been put on the wrong bus he stared back blankly at me. Demanding an explanation I asked was it a mistake, to which his response was "si senior, mistake"! Anyway they gave me a complimentary ham and cheese sandwich (more about that below) and a 7up and all was forgiven.
Puerto Madryn is a nice beach town but like El Calafate there really is not a whole lot to do in the place. Again it was a base for me to explore the surrounding areas. My first day was a complete write off as I was feeling very under the weather, perhaps due to the long bus ride. The following day I journeyed out to Puerto Piramides on the Península Valdés to catch a boat for an hour and a half of whale watching. It was a phenomenal experience witnessing these giant mammals so close to our boat. These southern right whales spend the summer months in the far Southern Ocean feeding, probably close to Antarctica and migrate north in winter for breeding which is why they can be seen in such huge numbers around the Península Valdés during this time. The one disappointment was that they didn't do any of their iconic spectacular jumping for us. The sea was very calm and so they were in ultimate chilled out mode and did a lot of sleeping.
Another piece of amazing wildlife that I enjoyed during my stay here was my visit to Punta Tombo to see the largest penguin colony in the world. Between September and April, a large number of Magellanic penguins come to this site to breed and prepare their offspring for migration. There are literally penguins everywhere you look, approximately 500,000 in total throughout the area. Each couple has their own little nest (basically a burrow in the ground) and they spend a lot of time just standing around in front of it to protect the eggs from birds and other predators. Besides this all they seem to do is eat, sleep, mate and occasionally howl for no reason at all. It really is a tough life! Fascinating little animals they are.
After the penguins I had a short stopover in the small town of Gaiman. The town was founded in 1874 by settlers from Wales and the place to this day has a huge Welsh influence with several hundred people conserving the use of the Welsh language. There are numerous old buildings and Welsh tea houses making the town quite pleasant to walk around. However unless you are Welsh then one or two hours here is enough.
Before I go I feel obliged to mention what seems to be an obsession in South America in general, and Argentina in particular - The Ham and Cheese Sandwich! Yes the locals love a good ham and cheese, or a Jamon y Queso as they like to call it. Ham and cheese is literally everywhere. If you order a burger, steak sandwich, chicken or indeed anything the ham and cheese is included with the main course unless you state that you do not want this inconvenience. Every bus or flight that you take here will also include a complimentary sandwich of the ham and cheese variety. Enough with the Jamon y Queso please!!!
Tonight I take an overnight bus to Bariloche where I will enjoy a couple of days of the many outdoor activities the place has to offer.
Ciao
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