Impressive Wildlife & Cultural Heritage of Patagonian Pioneers

After breakfast you will be led on a full day tour of the Valdes Peninsula. To enter this UNESCO World Heritage site, you will cross an incredibly narrow strip of land with sea on both sides. Further along you will arrive at Caleta Valdes, a large natural creek that is home to a colony of sea elephants and from here you’ll continue along the road as it drops suddenly down into a crescent of golden cliffs overlooking a bright blue bay and the small village of Puerto Piramides. Here herds of southern right whales tend to arrive in June.

You will take a boat trip around the Golfo Nuevo bay and watch these immense creatures gliding past. The peninsula navigation allows you to get unusually close to the whales. You will even get wet if they jump!

While the whales may be seen from late June to mid December, the sea elephants and sea lions are permanent residents. Following your tour you will return to your hotel in Puerto Madryn.

At the appropriate time you will be picked up from your hotel to cover the 270 km between Puerto Madryn and Bahia Bustamante. You will be driven along some dusty, dirt roads, but you will be able to see the interior of Patagonia, an area that few travelers have the chance to see.

On the road we will have a unique opportunity to visit the Dos Bahias Cape, where thousands of penguins come every year during breeding season, leaving in April to return the next spring. Most of the time they walk everywhere between their nests and the sea. The remote setting filled with these beautiful creatures makes this the highlight of the day.

It is never a good moment to leave, but after you’ve taken enough pictures, both with your camera and in your mind, we will continue on our way.

Upon arrival at Bahia Bustamante, you will immediately appreciate the remoteness of this beautiful seaside village located on Patagonia’s Atlantic coast. The place is entirely surrounded by nature, which is characterized by its unique biodiversity. There are few places in the world that house such an amount of diversity in seabirds and marine mammals.

What was the first seaweed village in the world is now a little town of 40 inhabitants and has opened its doors to travelers who are looking for authenticity. Offering panoramic views and access to the patagonian culture and a wide variety of fauna in an intimate way, it is a place where you will experience life as it has been for the last 100 years.

The sunsets here (you can see them from the back fence and over the Patagonian Steppes) are more than spectacular.

You will spend 3 nights at one of the traditional “houses by the sea”.

Leaving the estuary, we will sail over the meadows of seaweed of the Calera Malaspina.

Once in the area of the Versace Archipelago the boat nears the islands to observe the behavior of birds and sea lions.

La Roca Malaspina is noted for its marvelous colony of Cormorants.

There will be an opportunity to observe colonies of sea lions (numbering 3500 in the breeding season), Magellanic penguins (numbering 100,000 in the season from October to March) and colonies of different sea birds characterized by their variety and their large numbers: Petrels, Steamer ducks, Skuas, Plovers, Gulls and Terns among others.

The sky is covered with wings. The sounds of the cries of the birds diving in their search for food along with the beating of the wings of the Steamer ducks as they fly swiftly over the water are part of an incredible scene. If you are lucky, it is even possible to spot a group of dolphins or orca whales.

Important: Sailing is possible only during high tide and if weather conditions permit.

In the afternoon, you will be taken to enjoy a spectacular horseback ride through the Patagonian steppe. You will be able to appreciate the immense colors of the landscape, the pristine waters of the sea and the sun reflection.