Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdez, 235 miles
Chances are you have seen video of a kamikaze killer whale surfing the tide, beaching itself, and then enjoying a meal on a sandbar full of seals. That place is Peninsula Valdez in Patagonia and that is where went today. No, not because we want to see seals get munched, but because it’s a wildlife wonderland of penguins, foxes, alpacas, elephant seals, dolphins, and orca. The entire peninsula is protected national park, and a fair distance from Puerto Madryn.
My excitement was building in previous days as I enjoy viewing animals in there natural habitat. Its cool to see a penguin at the zoo, but its awesome to stand next to one in the wild. Amie was pumped too, that is until she found out that the roads on the peninsula are gravel, and not paved. Amie has a gravelroadaphobia she hasn’t been able to get over. I guess whipping out a few times hasn’t helped, but I digress.
We left early, rolled through icy fog, paid our entrance fees and were on the peninsula within the hour. Then the road turned to gravel. On the pavement we made 70miles in less than an hour. On the gravel we were doing 30mph at best, Amie squeezing me with her thighs and giving me the “slow down” sign the entire time. My plan was to ride the circumference of the island, but Amie had other ideas: we would ride to the closest destination with penguins and then come back the same road limiting our time on gravel to a minimum. Even with this plan we had nearly 100miles of dirt road ahead of us. The 50 miles in we rode was rather boring. No real wildlife to speak of, that is unless you count horses and cows. Once we hit the coast however, that all changed. Practically in the parking area along the cliff were dozens of penguins. Cute little guys waddling around, some very curious. The beach had monstrous sea lions sunbathing all over the place. In the water you could see penguins swimming, seals frolicking, sea birds of many variety… I wasn’t disappointed. We didn’t see any killer whales or dolphins, but we didn’t stay to long. Both of us have nagging colds and it had already been a long day.
On the ride back we got pretty frustrated with each other. Amie was mad because she was fearing for her life the whole time. I was annoyed because I felt like the situation was under control and didn’t need the constant nagging. After all, we fish tailed frequently but never crashed J. We made it back to the hotel by 4pm, shared our frustrations with each other, mutually apologized, and agreed to avoid dirt roads at all costs from here on out. I forget sometimes that I am in control always and Amie is subjected to my every whim as a passenger. She is a super trooper.
See? All smiles again!
They are funny creatures
Hey Everybody, its me again!
Amie needed some space. So I went across the street
Stillllllllllllll together!
My excitement was building in previous days as I enjoy viewing animals in there natural habitat. Its cool to see a penguin at the zoo, but its awesome to stand next to one in the wild. Amie was pumped too, that is until she found out that the roads on the peninsula are gravel, and not paved. Amie has a gravelroadaphobia she hasn’t been able to get over. I guess whipping out a few times hasn’t helped, but I digress.
We left early, rolled through icy fog, paid our entrance fees and were on the peninsula within the hour. Then the road turned to gravel. On the pavement we made 70miles in less than an hour. On the gravel we were doing 30mph at best, Amie squeezing me with her thighs and giving me the “slow down” sign the entire time. My plan was to ride the circumference of the island, but Amie had other ideas: we would ride to the closest destination with penguins and then come back the same road limiting our time on gravel to a minimum. Even with this plan we had nearly 100miles of dirt road ahead of us. The 50 miles in we rode was rather boring. No real wildlife to speak of, that is unless you count horses and cows. Once we hit the coast however, that all changed. Practically in the parking area along the cliff were dozens of penguins. Cute little guys waddling around, some very curious. The beach had monstrous sea lions sunbathing all over the place. In the water you could see penguins swimming, seals frolicking, sea birds of many variety… I wasn’t disappointed. We didn’t see any killer whales or dolphins, but we didn’t stay to long. Both of us have nagging colds and it had already been a long day.
On the ride back we got pretty frustrated with each other. Amie was mad because she was fearing for her life the whole time. I was annoyed because I felt like the situation was under control and didn’t need the constant nagging. After all, we fish tailed frequently but never crashed J. We made it back to the hotel by 4pm, shared our frustrations with each other, mutually apologized, and agreed to avoid dirt roads at all costs from here on out. I forget sometimes that I am in control always and Amie is subjected to my every whim as a passenger. She is a super trooper.
Amie not happy with the situation
These two did a great job cheering her up
See? All smiles again!
They are funny creatures
The seals and sea lions rested while they could
Hey Everybody, its me again!
Amie needed some space. So I went across the street
Stillllllllllllll together!
posted by Pedro and Maria at 1:58 PM
6 Comments:
Remember Mike, Happy wife happy life!
Maybe it's time to use one of the cards Amo and Mike! xoxox sarah
That penguin's got a nice beak.
I'm sipping my latte and reading your blog - my only get away these days :O)
Love it!
gene
get on that dirt road, tough up sucka!
I just have to say you two are inspiring me to do a road trip as grand as yours. Wow, I never thought the Wee could do such a duty doing the two-up thing. My girlfriend is now telling me that she doesn't need to get a bike of her own now, she can just ride with me! LOL
Keep the shiny and squishy sides up, ride safe.
Al
Oh yeah, we have matching bikes. :)
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