Celebrity Eclipse, 14 Night Argentina Cruise, 6th March 2020. Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

 The ship docked early this morning in the Argentine town of Puerto Madryn. 

This town, located on the Patagonia Coast has a Welsh heritage as it was settled by Welsh immigrants in 1865 and a huge Welsh flag was flying close to the dock. 

There was a good variety of ships excursions at this port, you could swim or kayak with Sea Lions, take a zodiac ride to see dolphins,  go to visit Magellanic Penguins at a rookery or at a homestead. Take a Welsh afternoon tea or visit the Peninsula Valdes. 

The Peninsula Valdes is a wildlife sanctuary, with Sea Lions, Fur seals, Elephant seals, Penguins and the famous Orcas. The killer whales at this location are famous for beaching to catch the seals. But this activity is very tide dependant and today the tides were 'wrong' and the chances of seeing this spectacle very slim. it is worth reading the trip advisor comments before you decide to visit.  https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g312832-d579048-Reviews-Peninsula_Valdes-Puerto_Madryn_Province_of_Chubut_Patagonia.html 

If you visit Puerto Madryn between May to December you can see the Southern Right whales from the beach. The El Doradillo Beach is a popular place to see the magnificent sea creatures.  

I had studied the activities carefully, a lot of the excursions offered by the ship involved long journeys and lunch, also they were very expensive. So we decided to hire a car and drive to Lobaria de Punta Loma to see the Sea Lions then to Punta Ninfas as this location had Elephant seals. 

We walked along the promenade, past the busy beaches to the Avis rental shop and picked up our car. As we walked I noted this tour bus that takes you to the town centre.

We following Google maps and drove South. Very soon the tar roads finished and we were onto a dirt road. this road was the main road number 3 that goes down the country. 

As we drove along the dirt road, towards the beaches, the scenery was of scrubby, grassland. We passed the Lama looking animals; I later found out they were Guanaco and a few bush rabbits. But it was a very boring drive through a vast and very bleak landscape. I was glad we had not gone on the longer drive to the Peninsula. 

It was not far to the Lobaria de Punta Loma, just 25 minutes from the city centre to see the Seal Lions. There were a lot of tours from the ship at this stop. And were could see the 'swimming with Sea Lions' activity taking place at Lobo Larsen from this point. 

Our drive was further South to Punta Ninfas, and a steep climb down to the Elephant Seals. We met a really helpful local couple- who appeared to be living in their car??- they showed us the track to descend to the beach, but we choose just to look at the Seals from the cliff. 

Having driven back into Puerto Madryn and returned the car, we had time to enjoy the sunny promenade before getting onto the ship. We had a great day out and enjoyed this frontier type town.