Eve and I set forth early morning on foot. 50 meters from the ship, we encountered a group of sea lions taking the morning sun on the steps of our pier.
Puerto Madryn downtown reminds me of a dusty town like Salinas in California’s central valley. Wide quiet streets, low-slung houses, sparse vegetation, little traffic, and chicken shops.
We did a stretch along the beach, then picked up and followed the trail of historic sites in town. Another similarity to California: “old” means 100-150 years. Not a lot happened before then.
After lunch, our guided tour set off to see the backcountry of Patagonia. Arid steppes dominate the landscape. The cliffs on the bay offer nurturing grounds for sea lions and cormorants.
Our final stop for an afternoon snack was at an Estancia in the middle of dusty nowhere. Merino sheep are raised on the ranch. Tourism provides some useful side income. The ranch also serves as a rescue station for guanacos that are injured or sick.
We drove back to town to discover that sudden strong winds had blown down the ship’s gangway, leaving us to wait on the pier for its replacement. The ship’s departure for Ushuaia was further delayed until the winds calmed down.
A little taste of the adventure that awaits us rounding Cape Horn, perhaps?
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