Tolosa Puerto Madryn

... br><br>Ah the Welsh &#8211; apparently in the 19th century Argentineans were looking for people to populate Patagonia as they were feeling vulnerable (from the British and Portuguese) so they put out an SOS for communities.  After a visit from a couple of Welsh hotshots the idea to start a new Wales away from the English (and apparently the exercise in the USA had failed) where they could continue their Welsh ways and language, was glamorised in the ...

... of 5 Southern Right whales (which are the second biggest whale in the world). With no one else in sight, it was a very special experience.<br><br>After a chat with our fantastic hostel owner Gaston and the barman Henry, in a matter of 30mins of our arrival we had an itinerary sorted for the next few days and then headed off for a visit to the elephant seal colony. <br><br>We were amazed at the size of the huge males ...

... of Elphick threatening to get up the next mornign to watch it (Id like to point out here that he did set his alarm at 0600 to watch it the next morning but slept through the alarm which woke me up for the day - retriburion for the snoring, perhaps?). A little way along the coast and with the pink tinge in the sky from the low sun gone we stopped at the beach where we were all astounded aty how close the wales were to the shore. Justine informed us that they were this close to ...

... was no way we were camping the first night! Nah, the first thing we did was find a semi decent hotel where we could enjoy a hot shower and a comfy bed for the night. That sorted, and us both all shiny and clean, we headed out to explore the town. It must be said that even without the pull of the World Heritage sights nearby, Puerto Madryn is a lovely wee town. It was founded in the late 19th century as a Welsh colony (where the immigrants lived in caves when they ...

... surrounding the national park. This isn't the amazing thing though... what is absolutely amazing is that on these beaches and only these beaches the orcas are known to actually beach themselves and HUNT for sea lions. This only occurs during a couple of weeks during the year, and only a few times during those weeks during high tide. They can hunt the sea lions only a few times before they smarten up and stay away from the "danger zone." I was really ...

... to join us to check out "La Tosca" ... Our plan was to do mainly "animal sightseeing" in Puerto Madryn since that is pretty much the only thing you can do there ... The city is nice and the beachfront has some kind of atmosphere, but for that definetly a visit would be a waste ... Besides the big natural reserve "Peninsula Valdez" (north of Puerto Madryn), around 200 km south there is a penguin colony of over 1.5 million!!! penguins. Besides ...

... Une chance que Johan et Marie m'aient averti de cela! La patronne de l'hostel qui ne perd pas le nord, se met à râler lorsqu'elle apprend que je n'ai pas réservé mon excursion chez elle. Elle me dit qu'elle aurait baissé son prix si je le lui avais demandé! Je lui répond que c'est de sa faute et qu'elle n'avait qu'à me donner son meilleur prix d'emblée! Lorsque je reviens le soir à l'hostel, Marie et Johan m'apprennent que leurs amis ont décidé qu'ils n'iraient pas à Punta ...

... a proper leg rest, pillow and blanket and reclines 160 degrees. Its big enough for you to sleep on your side and comes with food and drink and finally full, this is the same as above but lies completely flat!! I went cama as its cheaper. I left at 6pm and was given dinner, cold starter, hot main (beef and mash) with wine and creme caramel for afters and a cold breakfast. The love sweet stuff for breakfast, a cake thing with ...

... round Punta Delgada and into the Golfo Nueveo at 0100. Here we set a westerly course until 1 mile from the berth when the local pilot boarded us to guide us the remaining distance to our berth on the Muelle Almirante Storni. <br><br>Our first lines were sent ashore at 0612 and once the complicated tie-up was complete forward and aft with a total of 10 lines forward and 11 lines aft we started to disembark ...