La Posada de Madryn Puerto Madryn

... the Presidential party, to claw in votes, built many roads (usually in places not really required but to people whose votes they wanted, poorer neighbourhoods) emptying out all their pockets in the process.  Now the workers are striking for their promised money.  Back to the picket line and after a while the army waded in with some gas bombs (nothing like a chat here) and it was all over - the pickets got their media attention and we got back on the road ...

... dropped away very steeply from the shore which allowed us to be incredibly close to the 30 or so whales playing along the shore (mothers and calves). We then sat back, had some lunch and enjoyed the spectacle for a few hours as the whales played along the shore &#8211; incredible.<br><br>On day 3, a group of us from the hostel hired a car and drove to Punto Tumbo which has one of the largest penguin colonies in the ...

... Park done and we were off to the boat yard for our sea trip. We turned up with our patches, wooden legs and parrots at the ready...but we had to swap them for orange life jackets. Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook and some other porate I havent got the name, we were not.<br>Our English speaking seaman (assume yout own jokes) was named Orlando (another Orlando...surely not the last either?) and he was very informative. The first thing he informed us of was the indtructions, which Gary ...

... next to the caves where the first dwellers lived) and a bit characterless but had everything we needed and the walk along the beach to and from town was really pretty so we were more than happy there. Anyway, after a few days lazing about doing domestics etc, we decided we had better get our ***** in gear and organise visiting Pennisulla Valdes and Punto Tombo. The sheer volume of companies offering excursions to either site was mind-boggling so we were a tad ...

... were of again though! Punta tombo is about 200 or more km away from Puerto Madryn so it was quite a trip! Luckily I can always sleep:P We arrived at around 12 o´clock, and went straight into the reserve. At first I was a bit disappointed, as there were penguins about, but not that many.... I soon had the shock of a lifetime though... Thousands and thousands of penguins everywhere! It was absolutely breathtaking:D And they´re soooo cute ...

... good, although it is recommended not to drive faster than 40-50 km/h (Argentinian rule that is ... :)). The weather topped the expected 38 degrees - but the atlantic cooled us down quite a bit ... We saw all the animals we hoped for, although no orcas (the high season starts beginning of march) ... The next day we were already seperating (me heading for Buenos Aires where I would meet my cousin and Nicola to southern Chile (over Bariloche)

... début car il m'a semblé qu'au fil de la journée, elle parlait de plus en plus italien et de moins en moins espagnol. Il nous faut une heure et demi pour atteindre l'entrée de la péninsule où nous nous arrêtons pour payer le droit d'entrée qui n'était pas compris dans le prix de l'excursion. Nous continuons un peu plus loin vers l'ecocenter, sorte de musée où sont détaillées la faune et la flore de la péninsule. Ensuite commence vraiment la découverte de la péninsule, steppe ...

... and the area itself has so much history - its the place where Tango was born (if a dance can be born) and you can still see the dance performed as you walk round that area, or have your picture taken with various other street performers (Lorraine had her picture taken with a soldier at Casa Rosado, something to do with the uniform apparently !!). Our last night in Argentina will be spent in San Telmo as our Hotel is there, so we will certainly spend more ...

... and safe. I booked to go and see the penguins the next day. THe people working and staying at the hostel were really nice, they got to know your name and a group of us went out for dinner and drinks together. I met a guy from Canada, Marty, who has been here for 3 weeks as it is so laid back and spends most of his days sat on the beach catching a few rays....it´s too cold for him in Niagra. There were only three of us going to ...

As mentioned in the last entry we left Rio and had three days at sea. This journal site requires the input of a city so I will use our next port of call for this entry and cover our sea days here.<br><br>On The High Seas<br><br> Wednesday was a sea day and a recuperation day from all the traveling and touring. We enjoyed a laid back day, although Carol did work in her walk on the track topside. The promenade deck on this ship is one of the poorly designed ones that goes ...