PENINSULA VALDES

Puerto Piramides | Caleta Valdes | Punta Tombo Penguin Rookery | Punta Norte

HOW TO GET THERE AND WHAT TO SEE
You depart from Puerto Madryn northward along Provincial Route Nº 1. After doing 17 km you enter the area using Provincial Route Nº 2. They are both paved.

You must take this road eastward to access the Peninsula.

By bus, plane or car, the starting point to go to this Nature Reserve is usually Puerto Madryn, which offers all services as well as a port, an airport and travel agencies.

In the whale season (June through December) it is wise to take the old route to Piramides (Provincial Route Nº 4, gravel road). This is an opportunity to make a first coastal sighting of whales near the El Doradillo beach, which is considered a natural mating areas.

Returning to Provincial Route Nº 2, after another 77 km and once you have paid the visitor's fee at the Reserve (at the El Desempeño checkpoint), you will get to Carlos Ameghino Isthmus, a narrow strip of land linking the peninsula to the continent.

Here the tourist will yet have to stop and pay another entry fee to the Integrated Fauna Reserve of Peninsula Valdes.

The access point to the peninsula provides a superlative view. To your left and to your right all that is visible is the blue Patagonian sea, infinitely stretching from horizon to horizon.

On one side you will see Golfo Nuevo and, on the other, Golfo San José. If you lower your car window pane you will hear the noisy chirping of the winged inhabitants of the nearby Isla de los Pájaros (Bird Island), that seem to welcome all visitors.

An excellent service here is the "F. Ameghino Interpretation Center" and the "Regional Museum Fuerte San José", where the traveller can obtain abundant information on the flora, fauna and history of the Peninsula, and recommendations on what places should be visited.

Some 5 km from this place, one goes through a gravel track to the Isla de los Pájaros (on the Golfo de San José). This is a significant sea bird colony, that also has a small interpreting and information center and binoculars to watch the island.

After 25 km one arrives to the seashore community of Puerto Piramides, where one will be able to board vessels for excursions to view the fauna.

From this area one can visit Lobería de Punta Piramides where, in the mating and breeding seasons (December through March), a colony of sea lions will occupy the whole space, both land and sea.

From Puerto Piramides you can travel along gravel tracks to Caleta Valdes, an elephant seal colony, and Punta Norte, where you will find elephant seals and sea lions, all within a radius of nearly 75 km.

From Puerto Piramides and towards Punta Delgada you go through the Salinas Grande and Chica; both form a major depression or basin that lays 42 m below sea level.

Before starting out on the whole tour, it is important to tank up and get a good supply of drinking water in Puerto Piramides station.

Travellers should be aware that they are touring one of the few spots in the world that preserve untouched all the features that amazed Sir Charles Darwin over 160 years ago.