Puerto Madryn
Back in the Spring, Short Cut and I bused south for the penguins.
The small town of Puerto Madryn sits roughly in the middle of the length of la Patagonia. From the heart of town a two kilometer pier attempts to bisect the wide mouthed bay. The sun shone brightly but was not enough to warm the whipping wind that carried a fine sand down from the plains above. Walking to lunch at El Nautico felt like being sandblasted. The hostel owner said the town is persecuted by the wind. Though it may be, the wind enhances the pleasure of eating indoors.
We woke early our second day for the tour to see the penguins. I dressed in an under shirt, a t-shirt, a button-down, a sweater, and a scarf. The night before I bought a knit hat just in case the wind persecuted me.
The tiny penguins swim down from Brazil and tend to the same nest every year. Everywhere I looked were tiny caves, each of them home to parents caring for their eggs. When walking to and from the ocean the penguins would start walking alone and would soon veer toward one another and finish the trek in a small group.
Afterward the tour took us inland for Te Gales, traditional Welsh tea. Surprisingly, a number of people left Wales and settled in the south of Argentina. The town quickly became the most developed in the Patagonia–they developed an irrigation system that doubled as a source of electricity. The Welsh influence is still strong and most evident in the architecture and the preponderance of tea houses. Nothing could have been better after leaning into the cold north wind for two hours than the assorted sweets, simple sandwiches, and hot hot tea with cream. The lemon pie was the first of its kind I’ve ever liked. I asked for three servings.
We had great dinners at Estella Parrilla and at Margarita our two nights in town. At Margarita I got my first taste of cordero patagonico (patagonian lamb). It surpassed the hype.
Then just before leaving town on a bus for Bahia Blanca we fortified with a nice pizza and a cool beer. We weren’t sure where we were going besides closer to BsAs and were excited for the adventure.
