There are 1,301 kilometers that separate Buenos Aires from
Puerto Madryn
.
Almost two hours by plane and between 18 and 19 hours by bus or by car.
The
city center is quiet,
despite being its heart and the number of tourists who came to witness a unique event such as the Underwater Stations of the Cross.
From medium-sized buildings to small, with avenues full of local shops and global brands, in some of its blocks with
views of the sea
, the city even has an air of a city on the Atlantic Coast.
Panoramic of Puerto Madryn.
Photo Shutterstock.
Upon arrival, not even the welcome sign says "hello" as strong as the
smell of the sea
that you feel when you get off the transport that deposits the tourist in your accommodation.
He reaches the first excursion -which can be
snorkeling with the sea lions in Punta Loma-
to begin to realize that the human being, born there or not, is a visitor.
The one who sets the pace of the city is the animal.
"They obey the weather conditions and their natural cycles are fulfilled based on this," says a local guide from the province.
The statement counts for
penguins, killer whales, and dolphins
as well .
The human, in conclusion, dances on that Chubut track to the beat of nature.
Snorkeling and diving with sea lions.
Photo Entity Tourism Puerto Madryn
among sea lions
The excursion can be under the wing of operators such as Scuba Duba, who provide not only clothing, accessories and navigation to the friendly mustachioed people, but also their instructors, who experience it with the same adrenaline rush as the most inexperienced and nervous of visitors.
The agencies that organize the excursion provide the equipment.
Photo Entity Tourism Puerto Madryn
At the beginning of April, the males are no longer there and the females remain with their young in full formation process to go out into the open waters.
The time, why not, almost coincides with the beginning of the school cycle for local children who fill the well-kept squares with games on the Costanera in the afternoon.
The wolves, by way of welcoming them to their home, perform pirouettes, amaze with the sounds they make and, little by little, approach the visitors to swim.
"They are curious and if you don't disturb them, they come over to play."
Its nature is to open the door to go play.
Time to eat
On the same Costanera, the national capital of diving has several
restaurants
to stay with a succulent dish that, in one way or another, contains
seafood
, the "franchise players" of local gastronomy.
Gastronomy in Puerto Madryn.
Photo Entity Tourism Puerto Madryn
Riviera, a charming but simple restaurant, offers everything from pasta to a wide variety of meats to huge prawns, scallops and mussels, among others.
Heading to Peninsula Valdés
Puerto Madryn.
in addition to entertaining, relaxing and "fatten" those who decide to visit it, it also has its "Colosseum".
In Punta Norte, already in the Valdés Peninsula, is the corridor for watching orcas, wrongly called "killers".
They attack their prey when they are hungry.
Orcas in Península Valdés where they use the intentional stranding technique to stop hunting.
The sea is their territory and they can feel invaded.
The same logic, in places like Puerto Madryn, runs to go to the penguin colony.
Hundreds of tourists, and even locals, perch on its railings to try to enjoy, if they show up, the short seconds in which the females looking for food on the shore show up.
In the sand, the sea lions reappear on the scene, who are permanently and naturally exposed to the threat of the predator.
The "oooohhh" generated by seeing them stick out their black and white snouts turns into anxiety to witness something that the guides themselves confess not having seen: the moment of the orca attacking a sea lion.
"Like nowhere else in the world,
here they voluntarily run aground
in a channel to attack their prey. Then they return to the sea because
the pebble floor allows them
. Sometimes they attack to eat and other times, just for the pups to practice" , tells Adrián, a local guide.
The moment of a live attack seemed to appear in the warm Chubut morning.
The exclamations had first tone of encouragement to the orca to do it.
For him to attack, as if Caesar in the Roman Empire had lowered his thumb from him.
Although in view of the proximity of the attacker and the attacked, he changed those expressions into prayers so that he would not do it.
"Poor thing, oh no."
Mixture of relief and adrenaline reigns in the environment while a new
lesson that nature
and its laws are in force and not, as is the general conviction more than two thousand years ago, that of the human being.
Patagonia Sky, tour operator, takes advantage of the
San Guillermo ranch
, to give another sample of that and value the sky again with its true weight.
"Astrotourism"
is the proposal in which you learn about stars, planets and constellations, in addition to understanding their cultural and scientific importance.
"From them, man learned to orient himself, time cycles, when to farm and when not to," says Nani, the person in charge of undressing those who never look up.
last penguins
In April, dolphins, whales and penguins question its presence.
The latter, locals in the reserve within the San Lorenzo ranch, feed, shelter and wait for their plumage change to finish so they can set out on their way to new destinations.
Penguins are observed between September and March.
Few are left in April.
Friendly as they appear, but hostile if disturbed, they appear to be lords and masters of the arid land covered with bushes and the beach that precedes the sea to gather their food.
There is a
path
that visitors must follow with the strict request not to leave it, in addition to not touching them, talking to them or getting closer than two meters, if possible.
But the conditions are once again imposed by the locals.
Since that little path marked by stones is usually blocked by one of them who decides to lie down to rest there or simply look to the side, because the anatomy of their eyes requires it, apparently wondering "who are these humans" and "why are they?" here again."
1,301 kilometres, two hours by air, 18 by land and an unavoidable lesson in geography and nature.
Miniguide
Where to stay
Double room in a 4-star hotel, between 28,000 and 56,000 pesos.
There are also hotels and cabins of between 10 and 15 thousand
How much does it cost.
Breakfast or snack, from 800 to 1,500 pesos per person.
A hamburger, a pizza and even a seafood snack for two people is calculated on average, from 3,000 to 5,000.
A nautical tour costs 20 thousand for adults and 10 thousand for minors.
Snorkeling with sea lions, 30 thousand.
Rent a car, from 29 thousand to 65 thousand pesos.
Puerto Madryn. Special delivery
look too
Submarine Via Crucis in Puerto Madryn: the procession in the sea, an idea that came up at a barbecue among friends
What is the experience of traveling to Península Valdés in search of orcas like?