Yesterday we woke up at 7 and got a on a tour bus at 8. We drove around Pt. Madryn for atleast an hour picking up other tourists who wanted to go on the tour and then proceeded to drive the two hours to the dolphin boat ride (in Rawson maybe.. i´ll find out). I pretty much slept the whole way, and as we approached the harbour the guide described it as ´picturesque´ or something along those lines, and because the whole place was covered in fog we didnt know what to expect anyway. On arrival, we where greeted to what looked like an abandonned industrial area, with 44galon drums everywhere, no vegitation and ships sitting on the dry banks of the river. So when the boat arrived i was pretty supprised when we saw atleast 10 seals/sea lions frolicking around on the banks, not even 5 minutes from where we left off.
When we got out to sea (to see what we could see, see, see) there was dolphins galore, even mummies and babies swimming together! They were black and white which was a bit wierd, but made them easier to see, despite this they where so fast it was nearly impossible to take a photo of them (i had to steal Jaspers).
Back at shore, we jumped on the bus again and headed for the Punta Tombu penguin colony! The biggest conglomeration of penguins outside of Antarctica! The bus took just over an hour and a majority of the drive was on a crazy, winding gravel road.
We stepped off the bus, walked about 10m and BAM, BAM, BAMMITY BAM, penguins fricken everywhere! We couldnt even see the water yet, and it was pretty much desert, and it was about 30 degrees, and there was a penguin under every single bush, it was crazy. But the crazyness had only just begun, on the hill before us A PACK OF WILD LLAMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as we wept with excitement, we realised we where here for the penguins and continued up the path towards the shore. These penguins where everywhere and where not at all scared of humans, some even walking infront of us on the path.
After the penguins we took another 2 hr bus ride to Trelew to visit some fossils at the fossil museum, followed by super panchos. It was on this journey that i saw A FREAKIN ARMADILLOW on the side of the road!
Just to put that into context, today we saw: the biggest colony of penguins outside of Antarctica, llamas, seals, dolphins, sea lions, dinosaurs, super panchos and armadillows!!!!!!!!!
...too bad we spent 8 hours on a bus.
