A day’s drive to the south of Puerto Madryn we pitched camp in a small coastal town called Camarones. The principal sight here is a colony of Magellan Penguins where there is a walkway right out to the beach. The walkway passes over many burrows and you literally walk right on top of some of the penguins who are underneath the metal walkway and could be accused of up skirting!

Again the penguins are getting their coats ready for their months at sea. Offshore we saw a pod of five orcas patrolling the shoreline for any unsuspecting penguins or sea lions, which were also on the rocks.

Much of Eastern Patagonia is semi arid scrubland, which receives little rain throughout the year. The colours of the vegetation and the large skylines make for a dramatic landscape, especially at sunset. This is quite a contrast to the first day’s drive through the pampas that surround Buenos Aires. The pampas grasslands are incredibly fertile with neat ranches full of cattle or fields of grain and the settlements are a hive of industrial activity associated with the agribusinesses that form a large part of Argentina’s economy.

Further south the towns become pretty unattractive, being largely modern developments closely aligned to the national objective of developing Patagonia. Outside Comodoro Rivadavia, there were many nodding donkeys extracting oil. The coastline however, with its cliffs meeting the deep blue sea and yellow and pastel green vegetation is attractive.

Date: 09/03/2018 to 10/03/2018