We left Buenos Aires this morning en route to Trelew on the east coast. We are definitely not ready for more flights yet but the timing is based on some other location later in the trip. The domestic airport (AEP Jorge Newberry) is only a few minutes from our hotel and much smaller than the international EZE. The two check-in counters are delineated by flights “south” and flights “north”.
Just under two hours brought us to the Peninsula Valdés National Park. Puerto Piramides is the only settlement on the Peninsula Valdes. Only 600 people are allowed to live here permanently. It is a very small town. Beautiful but tiny. It reminds us of Vik in Iceland, complete with quasi-black sand beach and interesting limestone promontories on both sides of the bay.
Southern Right whales (ballena franca) are commonly seen around the Peninsula Valdes from June to November. The whales can be up to 59 feet long! We saw a mom and baby off our hotel room balcony.
After checking in and relaxing a bit we had a nice dinner at a local (and very popular) pub. Dave made a friend. Dogs are everywhere and this one knows how to open doors. Apparently he also knows how to look starved despite the full-sized belly he was trying desperately to hide. He was a “good dog”. And liked steak and shrimp.
We have both spent the last 6 months learning to speak Spanish on DuoLingo. We feel incredibly inadequate here, as there is not much English spoken in smaller towns. However, we have managed to order off menus, rent a car and check into two hotels. I think most people are laughing at us, but at least we are trying!
😘