Back in Argentina, we went from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn where we rented a car for two days. After some stormy and cloudy days, the weather was finally perfect and we headed for Península Valdés, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Shortly after arriving on the peninsula, close to the village of Puerto Pirámides, we saw two Southern right whales, a mother and a young one. We didn’t expect to see any whales since at this time of the year most of them have already left and headed south.

From different viewpoints on the peninsula it’s possible watch sea lions, sea elephants, Magellanic penguins and sometimes even orcas.

The peninsula itself is flat, the landscape like the rest of Patagonia: almost only bushes and some grass seem to grow here. There are guanacos, nandus, armadillos and, as the only domestic animals the farmers here keep, sheep and horses.

The second day, this time with a new car (we had a small accident on Peninsula Valdés… nothing bad, nobody got hurt, but the car was damaged since a guy drove into our car on the parking lot. Please note: it was not my fault. I’m a decent driver. Really.) we drove to Punta Tombo, the biggest continental penguin colony in Argentina. It’s fantastic! The are penguins all over (they’re so cute!!), from the beach where they swim (they’re amazing divers) to the hills where they have their nests – holes dug into the ground – and raise their chicks.