瓦尔德斯半岛

瓦尔德斯半岛印象

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  GregoryK685

  It was a long (about 2 hrs.) drive from the cruise ship terminal in Puerto Madryn to Peninsula Valdes beaches, but it was worth it. We saw many animals in the wild. It's hard to list all of them. Here is a short list: Guanacos (small lamas), Choique - Darwin's Rea (small ostrich), sea lions, elephant seals and very cute Magellanic Penguins, But the star attraction of the tour was a pod of orcas. We were looking at the beach populated heavily by elephant seals. Suddenly we saw a local ranger coming down from his observation post and shouting: "Orcas! Orcas!" We looked in the direction he pointed out and saw a pod of orcas coming to shore. Their tall, about 5', dorsal fins were cutting through ocean waters like submarines' periscopes. We thought we would be fortunate enough to observe orcas snatching baby seals right from the beach, as many animal lovers have watched at the NG Wild channel. Apparently, baby seals were too young, so they stayed far from the surf. Orcas didn't want to risk being beached and die. Therefore, after a thorough investigation, orcas turned around and left. We were at Peninsula Valdes in late December and orcas usually begin their unique seal snatching from the beach in late January through mid March, when baby seals grow big enough for venturing into surf. Overall, the Peninsula Valdes trip was an unforgettable experience, thanks to orcas.

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  JandJFKS

  We toured with Forastero Tours out of Puerto Madryn. Could not have been more pleased.Only 6 in our comfortable van. We saw hundreds and hundreds of Sea Lions and pups. Giant "Beach Master" bulls with their heads held high. Did see some Elephant seals but few and far away. Numerous penguins and some Guanacos. Rita feed us a box lunch and took very good care of us. We were at the sites long before the big cruise buses got there.

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  Jur_en_Sas

  The stars of Puerto Madryn are the animals by far. All depending on their season the SUPERstars whale, orka, sea lion, sea elephant, pinguino and dolphins can be seen somewhere around the city. Taking a trip to Peninsula Valdes is definitely one of the highlights of the area and a wise decision when your are only staying for a short period of time. During the whale season may-december you can spot whales, orka's during oktober-december, pinguino's during oktober-december and sea lions/elephants all season long. This means that between oktober-december you can see the big 5 all in 1 day along with loads of other small creatures. Perfect time management!If you have planned some extra days in Puerto Madryn like us (and you are not in whale season) it all depends if you should take the Peninsula Valdes tour worth about 500 peso per person. We went snorkeling with the lobos (sea lions) and took a trip to Punta Tombo to see the penguino's up close. The PV tour does more or less the same thing....we saw the sea lions (and elephants) from further away and a small colony of penguino's. They combine this with a so so small museum trip and the walking area overlooking some more sea lions/elephants. All cool in itself but not if you have taken this other close up trips individually as well. However, along came 3 lifesavers who saved my day from being a bit grumpy: ORKA's!!!! We saw the same 3 orka's twice during our trip in december with totally made my day. Seeing orka's is not a given so we were pretty lucky. So plan wisely but of course there are worse things that can happen then doubling up your fauna experience in such a cool part of the world.

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  Velotraum

  I've been end of December 2014 on the Peninsula Valdes.I'm traveling by bicycle around the world and also Southamerica. I was cycling from Puerto Madryn to Piramides. And of course I paid 180 Pesos. The same like the foreign motorists. And much more than the argentinian motorists. But I'm just cycling. And cycling is a more environmentally friendly way to explore the nature. But that's not why I'm very disappointed.I camped 1 night at the campground in Piramides. The next day I started to the Punta Norte by bicycle. I cycled 78 km on a gravel road in 6 hours. I knew, it's forbidden to camp in the nature on Peninsula Valdes outside of Piramides. And as a nature friend I understand this. That's why I asked friendly the Ranger woman, if I could stay for 1 night at the Punte Norte Ranger Station. But these woman was very unfriendly to me. She told me always it's forbidden. Than she told me lot's of lies. It's dangerous for me. She got a storm warning. Lot's of rain the next day and it would be impossible for me to cycle again. Later she told me cycling is forbidden on Peninsula Valdes. But there is no sign that means cycling is forbidden.And it was not allowed to be outside after 5 pm. But I saw lot's of motorists after 5 pm.I aked her: 'How can I visit the Peninsula by bicycle, if I can not stay here for one night. I can not cycle 240 km in 1 day'. She told me: 'That's my problem. I'm just doing my work'. She called the police and the police car took me back to Piramides. That's unbelievable and stupid too. This Ranger woman is not thinking environmentally friendly. Cycling is the best way to explore the natur. There is no pollution, no noise and I don't waste petrol or diesel. And I don't kill animals like the motorists. I have see many dead animals. And I as a cyclist was discriminated against motorists.Because of this Ranger woman the police car wasted about 15 Liter (or more) of Diesel and made much pollution on 160 km !!!I'm thinking they just want make money. They don't want protect the nature. That's very sad. :-(And I paid with my money this unfriendly Ranger woman. I have just seen boring Pampa. Like anywhere outside of the Peninsula.I recommend to any tourist not to go on Peninsula Valdes. You will see much boring Pampa. I recommend to go to the Monte Lion Nationalpark. You will see a very beautiful nature and also Penguins and other animals there. For free! And you will see lot's of Guanacos and Nandus along the Ruta 3. And you can see many sea lions near Caleta Olivia also for free.

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  davidhX6036TS

  We left Puerto Madryn very early and drove out to Peninsula Valdes in a small hire car, the roads are unpaved but easy to drive on once you get used to them and if you observe the speed limits !! We managed the full loop, lots of stops and still got back to Puerto Madryn by 7pmWe saw lots of wildlife including Orcas patrolling close to the beachIf you can, try to take binoculars with you for a better view

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  mispule

  The nature in Peninsula Valdes is just amazing. Unfortunately we visited it just for one day in a rented car. If we knew before, we would like it so much I would stay at least one or two nights in Puerto Piramides and enjoyed it more. We travelled before in USA and Canada and thought that we saw similar things in Peninsula Valdes, but it's different and it's so beautiful. Puerto Piramides is just a charming, quite, small town in the middle of this natural reserve. Peninsula is quite big so it's impossible to visit all the interesting place and corners in one day especially if you don't want to hurry and you need a rented car. But the road is not bad, you just need to respect slower speed level and you can have just a simple small car. There's no need of 4x4. Unfortunately we didn't see any whales there but we were a bit disappointed to hear that we missed them in Puerto Piramides of one day but still we enjoyed the incredible nature and wildlife there. Anyway few tips for whales would be big whales from probably May - November, the main season is August - November, and the Orcas February, March. But still you see plenty of lamas all around, elephant seals, seals, pinguins, ostrich, armadillos, condors.....Puerto Madryn is about 1 hour drive from there.

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  Bethesdashrink

  When in Puerto Madryn, you have two choices 1. Head North to Peninsula Valdes for Sea Lions or 2. South to Pointe Tombe for Magellanic Penguins and a Welsh village.We headed north and very much enjoyed watching amazingly large male sea lions, female sea lions and three week old babies wandering the beach, We also had the chance to glimpse some Darwin's Rhea (ostriches) and Guanacos(llama-like) While the scenery was great and the animal life very interesting, the tour guide, Martin, was not having his best day. He answered questions asked of him, but seemed to have no general narration about the region or the sea lions. His specialty was the ostriches and so we learned a lot about them, but of course, we had come to see the sea lions. January is good for sea lions and Penguins but bad for whales. The tour was expensive, fairly dull, and not particularly informative. Tip : Don’t take this tour.

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  tri168

  The coastline on the east side of Peninsula Valdes is just spectacular, with high and abrupt cliffs, crystal clear waters, and sandy beaches. These are all the domain of sea mammals. Large colonies of sea lions (they have newborn pups in Jan.) can be found along the east coast at the end of road 2 (close to Punta Delgada), while there is a good chance to see sea elephants resting on the sandy beaches, just off of provincial road 47. Then continuing a bit more north to Caleta Valdes, there is a substantial colony of Magellanic penguins (east end of road 52). Doing this circuit from Puerto Madryn is almost 400 km, and requires about 7.5 hours, as the roads on the peninsula are unpaved and sandy.

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  James_KK9185AX

  Long ride but worth it. Saw lots of animals from elephant seals to penguins to rheas and armadillo affordable. Bring refreshments. Enjoy

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  Naps7

  3月底的时候,我们去了趟瓦尔德斯半岛,简直太好玩了!虽然当时不是观赏野生动物的最佳时机,不过我们很幸运。我们找到一个英语很棒的导游--Gaston Martin,超级友好,对这个地区的动物非常了解。他先来在Puerto Madryn的酒店接我们,离半岛有45分钟的车程。早知道就住在Puerto Piramides了,那儿离半岛更近。当我们想给路上的动物拍照时,Gaston也很乐意把车停下来让我们拍照。我们穿梭在麦哲伦企鹅之中,还看见了海狮,离它们不到90米。我们在一个羊场吃的午餐,因为时节关系,只看见几只海象在岸上悠闲地享受太阳的温暖。最好玩的就是看见逆戟鲸成群地往海滩上游来。我们的旅行太成功了,因为Gaston根据潮汐安排了行程,还跟我们介绍了许多这个地区和野生生物的信息。我们跟他度过了完美的一天,之后他还告诉我们,如果遇到任何困难都可以找他。这次旅行实在太棒了!