Puerto Madryn is the best place in Patagonia to get up close and personal with many species of wildlife. The two main species that tourists flock to see are the Magellanic Penguin and the South Right Whale (Ballena Franca). We did two main tours. The first was a trip to Punta Tumbo to waddle with nature’s little butlers.
When Nico was younger his family did a road trip from their hometown in the far south of the country to Buenos Aires. On the way they stopped in Puerto Madryn and were very fortunate to have a serious display of whale mating (apparently it was very involved) and were able to walk freely among the penguin colony. Nowadays conservation of their breeding ground is taken into consideration and tourists must remain on a gravel path. If a penguin approaches, you must slowly back away and wait for them to cross the path. This is obviously in the best interest of the penguins and thus I am in support of it. Yet it must be pointed out that Nico’s last trip here must have been a much cooler experience.
Penguins are fascinating creatures. Magellanic Penguins mate for life. The colony at Punta Tumbo, Argentina is the largest in South America with roughly 1 million penguins residing there each year. When September rolls around the males return first to prepare the nest and then shortly after the females follow. They use their same nest from the previous mating season and are able to reunite by recognizing each other’s cries. Since we were there at the beginning of the mating season (September to April), we were able to witness penguins reuniting for the first time. We also saw several displays of the mating ritual, which involves the male walking around the female while flapping his wings. There were a few incidents of a bachelor trying to interfere and “hit on” a taken female. This resulted in some strong squawking and eventually the intruder left the scene not having gained female attention.
The females lay two eggs. Once this has happened, the male and female take turns incubating them for roughly 40 days. While one manages the nest, the other goes out to sea to feed. It can take days out at sea to feed depending on the prevalence of fish. Due to current environmental and climate changes the incidence of starvation of the partner left to maintain things at home has increased. This unfortunate occurrence has notably impacted their population and is one of the factors behind why they are now designated as a “Threatened” species. As for the unhatched babies, the biggest threats they face are seagulls and foxes. It may make me sound like a horrible person, but I kind of wanted to witness a seagull flying away with an egg. In my defense it is the circle of life.
Our guide shared a couple other interesting facts. The reason their bellies are white and backs are black is for camouflage. If a predator is swimming beneath them and looks up, the white bellies may blend in with the sky and sunlight filtering down through the water. If a predator is swimming above them and looks down, their black backs may blend in with the darkness of the water. She also explained how the penguins waterproof themselves. When you get up close to them, you can see that they aren’t smooth like seals, they have fine feathers. They have a gland that produces a waterproofing agent. They then rub the agent all over their own bodies with their beaks.
Walking amongst thousands of nests was an exceptional experience, but learning about how our species is damaging the environment to such an extent that it is drastically impacting their population makes one stop and think.
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Our tour then took us to the Welsh town of Gaiman. It is the largest Welsh community outside of the United Kingdom and has garnered some fame over the past decade as a cultural must-see in Patagonia. In the 1800’s the British government placed restrictions on the use of the Welsh language in hopes that they could force the Welsh to only speak English. A group of about 150 people decided they wanted to flee the oppression of the British government and they set their sights on the country of Argentina. Argentina had an open door policy for immigrants during that time with the hope of populating its expansive territory which was very underpopulated except the area surrounding Buenos Aires itself. The Argentinian government was especially keen on encouraging people to settle in the rough and empty space of Patagonia. This was perfect for the Welsh because not only were they looking to get away from the subjugation of the British government, but they wanted to live in a place away from all other languages in which they could tightly preserve and proliferate their own culture. This first group of Welsh people was led across the Atlantic by Michael D. Jones in 1865 on the Mimosa. They reached a barren coastline void of fresh water. They were forced to break up into two groups. The men headed inland in search of fresh water while the women and children remained on the coast. The journey on foot to reach the Chubut River was arduous and lengthy. Once the men were able to establish a basic foothold along the river, the women journeyed to join them. They built extensive irrigation ditches around the entire area and very efficient farms. At the beginning things were hard. They had very limited resources. Most of what they had came by ship from Wales. They quickly built a strong connection with the local Tehuelche community and they greatly owed their survival to the education and support of these indigenous people. The Tehuelche showed the settlers how to survive in the barren region and in return the settlers gave them bread and wheat. It is considered one of the few examples in world history of a peaceful colonization. Interestingly enough, the name Gaiman is actually a Tehuelche word which means ‘sharpening stone’.As time went on their farms flourished and they became powerhouse wheat growers. Their wheat was considered some of the best wheat in the world at that time. They began exporting it and made a pretty penny which they then put back into their farms.
The Welsh settlers founded the towns of Gaiman, Trelew, Puerto Madryn, and Rawson. Gaiman has maintained its Welsh roots the most and has the most descendants of the original settlers. A large percentage of the townspeople of Gaiman boast Welsh as their second language and recently it has been reinstated in schools in order to reinforce the Welsh culture for generations to come. Gaiman is a very small town but its Welsh roots are evident. The first house built in the town is still standing along with several other early 1900’s buildings. These buildings along with both the poplar trees, which only grow near the town and its irrigation ditches, and the very popular traditional Welsh teahouses clearly show visitors who built this quaint town. Recently on the anniversary of its founding, the Welsh government granted many descendants of the settlers citizenship.
What people really come to Gaiman for is a nice afternoon visit to one of its famous teahouses. The original teahouse built in the 1940’s served local farmers traditional Welsh cakes made with the town’s grade A wheat and of course tea. We happened to stop at that very teahouse, Ty Gywn, and even met the owner and daughter of its founder, who had been the first nurse in the area. We entered the two story wooden structure and were promptly squished into a table with four strangers. The waitress seemed very distraught that there were several guests traveling alone and that somehow she was going to have to figure out how to serve the stuffed plates of cakes each compiled for a two person party to singleton diners. Apparently she didn’t compute the fact that there were six people sitting at the table and thus three sets of two. Regardless, the expensive fee for this experience did provide an absurd amount of cake and tea. The most famous of all the cakes is the spiced fruit cake, torta Galesa. To be honest I didn’t like it at all. I did like the custard cake though! As I consumed cake after cake, I kicked myself for having an annoying need to get my money’s worth out of whatever I do. I should have stopped three pieces before I did. Did I mention there were also cheese finger sandwiches? They were good too! My overall assessment is that the whole experience was overpriced by a long shot, but if you are in the region you have to do it. Even the teapots scream Welsh culture with their bright tea cosies.
Another teahouse worthy of mention is the Ty Te Caerdydd. It was made famous by a visit from Princess Diana. Also worthy of note is the fun fact that the town has a seaweed drying factory which one can tour. Yep. What a gloriously random attraction!
____________________________________________________
Our other tour took us to the Valdes Peninsula where we boarded a boat and went in search of the South Right Whale. At one point we ran into a mother and her calf. The youngster was curious about our boat and came right up to the side and then swam under us. We didn’t have a show like Nico did when he was a kid, but later in the day from land we witnessed a very energetic whale jumping continuously for at least ten minutes. The boat right next to him had much better luck than we did. Regardless, it was a nice experience. It is amazing how large these whales are. Our guide shared a lot of interesting information about these giants that reside below the surface. The way in which they mate is fascinating to say the least. Two males will box in a female from either side and a third male will forcefully copulate with her from behind. In essence it is a gang rape in which all three males will copulate with the same female. In one ejaculation they can produce up to 7 liters of semen. When we crossed the border from Chile to Argentina, I was entertained to read that we were prohibited from bringing in fruit and semen. My first thought was good thing there are no whales on our bus! … I know.
The mother calf relationship is also interesting. The mother will stick with her young for a year. Our guide said that on average a female gives birth once every four years. In order for the calf to drink milk from the mother it has to quickly swim towards the mother and slam into her chest. She does not have external nipples, so the baby has to force milk out of her milk glands. The milk is very high in fat and thus floats. If the baby doesn’t get the milk on the first go, it can catch it has it floats.
We learned about the differences between whales and porpoises. Whales have filters and porpoises have teeth. Thus, killer whales are not whales at all. They have teeth and belong to the porpoise family. Killer whales, also known as orcas, are a predator of the south right whale. They will swim above a whale and prevent it from surfacing for air. They then eat the whale’s tongue.
We also saw sea lions and gigantic seals. The sea lions were much more active and interesting to watch. The males have their own harems. Usually the older the male the larger the harem. We witnessed several displays of male dominance when younger bachelors attempted to cuddle up to a “taken” female. The real purpose of this tour was to see the whales though and the rest was just extra.
When Nico was younger his family did a road trip from their hometown in the far south of the country to Buenos Aires. On the way they stopped in Puerto Madryn and were very fortunate to have a serious display of whale mating (apparently it was very involved) and were able to walk freely among the penguin colony. Nowadays conservation of their breeding ground is taken into consideration and tourists must remain on a gravel path. If a penguin approaches, you must slowly back away and wait for them to cross the path. This is obviously in the best interest of the penguins and thus I am in support of it. Yet it must be pointed out that Nico’s last trip here must have been a much cooler experience.
Penguins are fascinating creatures. Magellanic Penguins mate for life. The colony at Punta Tumbo, Argentina is the largest in South America with roughly 1 million penguins residing there each year. When September rolls around the males return first to prepare the nest and then shortly after the females follow. They use their same nest from the previous mating season and are able to reunite by recognizing each other’s cries. Since we were there at the beginning of the mating season (September to April), we were able to witness penguins reuniting for the first time. We also saw several displays of the mating ritual, which involves the male walking around the female while flapping his wings. There were a few incidents of a bachelor trying to interfere and “hit on” a taken female. This resulted in some strong squawking and eventually the intruder left the scene not having gained female attention.
The females lay two eggs. Once this has happened, the male and female take turns incubating them for roughly 40 days. While one manages the nest, the other goes out to sea to feed. It can take days out at sea to feed depending on the prevalence of fish. Due to current environmental and climate changes the incidence of starvation of the partner left to maintain things at home has increased. This unfortunate occurrence has notably impacted their population and is one of the factors behind why they are now designated as a “Threatened” species. As for the unhatched babies, the biggest threats they face are seagulls and foxes. It may make me sound like a horrible person, but I kind of wanted to witness a seagull flying away with an egg. In my defense it is the circle of life.
Our guide shared a couple other interesting facts. The reason their bellies are white and backs are black is for camouflage. If a predator is swimming beneath them and looks up, the white bellies may blend in with the sky and sunlight filtering down through the water. If a predator is swimming above them and looks down, their black backs may blend in with the darkness of the water. She also explained how the penguins waterproof themselves. When you get up close to them, you can see that they aren’t smooth like seals, they have fine feathers. They have a gland that produces a waterproofing agent. They then rub the agent all over their own bodies with their beaks.
Walking amongst thousands of nests was an exceptional experience, but learning about how our species is damaging the environment to such an extent that it is drastically impacting their population makes one stop and think.
_____________________________________________________
Our tour then took us to the Welsh town of Gaiman. It is the largest Welsh community outside of the United Kingdom and has garnered some fame over the past decade as a cultural must-see in Patagonia. In the 1800’s the British government placed restrictions on the use of the Welsh language in hopes that they could force the Welsh to only speak English. A group of about 150 people decided they wanted to flee the oppression of the British government and they set their sights on the country of Argentina. Argentina had an open door policy for immigrants during that time with the hope of populating its expansive territory which was very underpopulated except the area surrounding Buenos Aires itself. The Argentinian government was especially keen on encouraging people to settle in the rough and empty space of Patagonia. This was perfect for the Welsh because not only were they looking to get away from the subjugation of the British government, but they wanted to live in a place away from all other languages in which they could tightly preserve and proliferate their own culture. This first group of Welsh people was led across the Atlantic by Michael D. Jones in 1865 on the Mimosa. They reached a barren coastline void of fresh water. They were forced to break up into two groups. The men headed inland in search of fresh water while the women and children remained on the coast. The journey on foot to reach the Chubut River was arduous and lengthy. Once the men were able to establish a basic foothold along the river, the women journeyed to join them. They built extensive irrigation ditches around the entire area and very efficient farms. At the beginning things were hard. They had very limited resources. Most of what they had came by ship from Wales. They quickly built a strong connection with the local Tehuelche community and they greatly owed their survival to the education and support of these indigenous people. The Tehuelche showed the settlers how to survive in the barren region and in return the settlers gave them bread and wheat. It is considered one of the few examples in world history of a peaceful colonization. Interestingly enough, the name Gaiman is actually a Tehuelche word which means ‘sharpening stone’.As time went on their farms flourished and they became powerhouse wheat growers. Their wheat was considered some of the best wheat in the world at that time. They began exporting it and made a pretty penny which they then put back into their farms.
The Welsh settlers founded the towns of Gaiman, Trelew, Puerto Madryn, and Rawson. Gaiman has maintained its Welsh roots the most and has the most descendants of the original settlers. A large percentage of the townspeople of Gaiman boast Welsh as their second language and recently it has been reinstated in schools in order to reinforce the Welsh culture for generations to come. Gaiman is a very small town but its Welsh roots are evident. The first house built in the town is still standing along with several other early 1900’s buildings. These buildings along with both the poplar trees, which only grow near the town and its irrigation ditches, and the very popular traditional Welsh teahouses clearly show visitors who built this quaint town. Recently on the anniversary of its founding, the Welsh government granted many descendants of the settlers citizenship.
What people really come to Gaiman for is a nice afternoon visit to one of its famous teahouses. The original teahouse built in the 1940’s served local farmers traditional Welsh cakes made with the town’s grade A wheat and of course tea. We happened to stop at that very teahouse, Ty Gywn, and even met the owner and daughter of its founder, who had been the first nurse in the area. We entered the two story wooden structure and were promptly squished into a table with four strangers. The waitress seemed very distraught that there were several guests traveling alone and that somehow she was going to have to figure out how to serve the stuffed plates of cakes each compiled for a two person party to singleton diners. Apparently she didn’t compute the fact that there were six people sitting at the table and thus three sets of two. Regardless, the expensive fee for this experience did provide an absurd amount of cake and tea. The most famous of all the cakes is the spiced fruit cake, torta Galesa. To be honest I didn’t like it at all. I did like the custard cake though! As I consumed cake after cake, I kicked myself for having an annoying need to get my money’s worth out of whatever I do. I should have stopped three pieces before I did. Did I mention there were also cheese finger sandwiches? They were good too! My overall assessment is that the whole experience was overpriced by a long shot, but if you are in the region you have to do it. Even the teapots scream Welsh culture with their bright tea cosies.
Another teahouse worthy of mention is the Ty Te Caerdydd. It was made famous by a visit from Princess Diana. Also worthy of note is the fun fact that the town has a seaweed drying factory which one can tour. Yep. What a gloriously random attraction!
____________________________________________________
Our other tour took us to the Valdes Peninsula where we boarded a boat and went in search of the South Right Whale. At one point we ran into a mother and her calf. The youngster was curious about our boat and came right up to the side and then swam under us. We didn’t have a show like Nico did when he was a kid, but later in the day from land we witnessed a very energetic whale jumping continuously for at least ten minutes. The boat right next to him had much better luck than we did. Regardless, it was a nice experience. It is amazing how large these whales are. Our guide shared a lot of interesting information about these giants that reside below the surface. The way in which they mate is fascinating to say the least. Two males will box in a female from either side and a third male will forcefully copulate with her from behind. In essence it is a gang rape in which all three males will copulate with the same female. In one ejaculation they can produce up to 7 liters of semen. When we crossed the border from Chile to Argentina, I was entertained to read that we were prohibited from bringing in fruit and semen. My first thought was good thing there are no whales on our bus! … I know.
The mother calf relationship is also interesting. The mother will stick with her young for a year. Our guide said that on average a female gives birth once every four years. In order for the calf to drink milk from the mother it has to quickly swim towards the mother and slam into her chest. She does not have external nipples, so the baby has to force milk out of her milk glands. The milk is very high in fat and thus floats. If the baby doesn’t get the milk on the first go, it can catch it has it floats.
We learned about the differences between whales and porpoises. Whales have filters and porpoises have teeth. Thus, killer whales are not whales at all. They have teeth and belong to the porpoise family. Killer whales, also known as orcas, are a predator of the south right whale. They will swim above a whale and prevent it from surfacing for air. They then eat the whale’s tongue.
We also saw sea lions and gigantic seals. The sea lions were much more active and interesting to watch. The males have their own harems. Usually the older the male the larger the harem. We witnessed several displays of male dominance when younger bachelors attempted to cuddle up to a “taken” female. The real purpose of this tour was to see the whales though and the rest was just extra.
