Looking over the mysterious waters surrounding Península Valdés, we find ourselves in front of one of the earth's most extraordinary beauties, there are such vivid shapes and textures that it almost feels like a dream.
A southern region in the Republic of Argentina is called Patagonia. In this region there is a province called Chubut. Chubut has invaluable natural riches, like the mentioned Peninsula, making it prime material for tourism-based development.
Penìnsula Valdès, 96 km wide and 60 km long, is to be found at approximately 42 degrees latitude south and 64 degrees longitude west. Chance has it that the coast is shaped like a giant mushroom—and it is connected to the interior of the Chubut province by the isthmus Carlos Ameghino. These lands show a course of abrupt and chaotic cliffs; which also allow one to admire the waters from above.
A panoramic view of unequalled natural beauty can be found in the clear, vast plains, which form part of the Patagonic Plateu. It is a relief which possesses soft undulations in terrain and firm soil, plains extending far towards the East, and looks to have been slowly sculpted by the oscillations and constant interchange of water and wind.
Because of the shape of Penìnsula Valdès, together with the Gulf of San Josè and Gulf Nuevo, both sites of notable geographical curvature, there is a great area of vastly deep water which first allowed, and continues to allow, the existence of the only natural ports in the south of Argentina: Puerto Madryn and Gulf Nuevo.
In this part of the peninsula, the province of Chubut has a cold and dry climate with high velocity winds which blow far southwest and northwest, summers of 38° C and winters of a very low temperature, close to 0° C.
The landscape is characterised predominantly by the Patagonian Steppe, which also gives a lot of thick, prickly bushes that have adapted to the dryness of the region (average 250 mm of rain per year). For this reason, it is easy to find small sized vegetation with small leaves, impoverished by the desert.
Look at the Size!
In the waters that surround Penìnsula Valdès travels an enourmous mammal of the sea, which travels to these coasts in the winter months of June and July to give birth to and raise its children, later returning to the cold seas of the south.
It measures approximately 15 metres in length and weighs 60 tonnes. It has hair growing on its teeth to allow it to feed itself more easily. It has crustaceans and corals on its head. It is very beautiful, from 10-15 metres in length, and is known to retreat upon detecting aggression. It has been declared a Natural Monument and it is our (the Argentines') Southern Right Whale.
But There Are So Many…
In Península Valdès there is also Punto Norte Nautral Reserve in the extreme northeast, and Punto Delgada in the extreme south-east.
In Spring, from September to November, in the Punto Norte Natural Reserve, there is a very important enclosure for sea elephants, which are under the protection of Chubut's Department of Tourism. They also appear in Punto Delgada and Caleta Valdès—and were once an important sign for the fisherman, some of whom still make the journey to try their luck.
The birds of Penìnsula Valdès guard their supremacy in the Isla de los Pàjaros. This is a true habitat for birds, and it keeps the sky aplague with these flying animals, sustaining hundreds upon hundreds of gaviotas (seagulls), gaviotines, cormoranes y biguás (birds of the region).
At the same time the sea lions have made their own unique habitat in the Penìnsula, along with the penguins who give origin to the " pingüinera " called Punta Tombo. They last visited during the times of spring and summer of the Southern Hemisphere, at a time of temperate and cool Atlantic waters. They spend their time here for the development of the remaining 45% of the biological cycle—including the assurance of reproduction and initial breeding—before returning to the southern areas.
In December the loberìa of Península Valdés attracts many sea-lions, who live nearly all their lives in the water—they appear at this time in large mating groups to continue their species.
Further, the waters are visited by dolphins, who together with the Southern Right Whale, characterize the Argentine Sea.
How to Get There
From the province of Buenos Aires one can take the highway Route 3, which leads to Routes 47, 52, 2 and 42, from which one can access Puerto Piràmides, Punta Norte, Punta Delgada and Puerto Madryn.
If you decide to come in order to go fishing or diving in these waters, do not leave without visiting the tourist town of Puerto Piràmides, where you can find an ideal resting place, ensuring you a pleasant journey through this area.
This town, name derived from a chance topographical formation modeled by the wind, has a coastline similar to the form of a pyramid. It is identified mainly with the tourist activities surrounding the appearance of the Southern Right Whale. It also has tourist infrastructure, with showers, hotels, transport and restaurants.
Feeds