We were looking forward to the next part of our trip for two reasons. First, we were going to be reunited with fellow Cusco volunteer, Anna - it's nice to see a familiar face, especially if she is able to engage in conversations fully in English. And second, we were going to see some pretty interesting wildlife. I know, I know - haven't we had enough of animals already in the Pantanal and Galapagos? Not really, especially when our next destination was Puerto Piramides, Argentina, where we will be seeing the biggest wildlife of all - the whale.

Just to clarify though - we were not going to see the absolute largest animal that ever lived, the Blue Whale. But measuring up to 15 meters (that's about 1.5 times the length of a 40-seater bus) and weighing up to 100 tonnes (about 20 times heavier than the world's largest mammal, the African Bush Elephant), the Southern Right Whale is still a very impressive mammal. Especially when viewed from less than 10 meters away!

Puerto Piramides is the only town in Peninsula Valdes, a small peninsula (about 5 times the size of Singapore) jutting out of the eastern coast of Argentina. To get there, we flew from El Calafate on a small Fokker plane to Puerto Madryn (airport nearest to Piramides) and then rented a small, 4-door Chevy Corsa for the 100 km drive to Piramides. Anna, whom we met in Madryn, did most of the driving that day as being from the US, she was the only one used to driving on the "right" side of the road. The Corsa was also to be our main mode of transport in Valdes as there were really no other way to move around.

Although we spent two full days in Piramides, it was really the first day when we saw most of the action. We spent most of the day driving about 160 km on gravel road (there are very few tarred roads on the peninsula), which proved to be trickier than I had expected. It's almost like driving on ice as the wheels on the car would sometimes lose traction on the gravel and threaten to spin out of control. In fact, it actually did spin out of control while I was driving. For a split second, our lives flashed before our eyes. Fortunately, there were no other cars around when it happened and with as much calmness as I could muster, I put the car in reverse (it was a manual) and got back on the road. It must have freaked Anna out in the backseat but she was too nice to say anything. Sorry, Anna.

But I digress. Back to the wildlife. So other than the southern right whales, Piramides is also home to a host of other animals, including but not limited to:
1) Southern elephant seals: Measuring up to 5 meters, they are the world's largest species of pinnipeds (which includes other seals, sea lions and walruses). Piramides is the only place you can see these animals in its natural habitat that is not actually a remote island. They looked like a giant version of the sea lions that we saw in the Galapagos. Unfortunately though, we could only admire these animals from a distance as we were high up on a cliff (maybe 70-80 meters up) while they were rolling around on the beach beneath us. But even at that distance, we could see how big these animals can get.
2) Magellanic penguins: These fascinating birds (over the course of our trip, we have developed a slight appreciation for birds) visit the Piramides by the thousands every year where they would build their nests and lay their eggs. When we arrived at one of the penguins' nesting site, we were amazed by their sheer numbers. Most of them were just standing motionless in their cute tuxedo-like fur, guarding their nests. But as small and cute as they looked, we know better than to get too close during this time.
3) Orcas / Killer whales: Most people can recognize a killer whale, partly due to the movie Free Willy. But what many people may not know is that the killer whale is not actually a whale, but the world's largest dolphin. What's really interesting about the orcas in this region is that it has developed a very interesting way of hunting sea lions / seals - they would intentionally beach themselves and wait for their prey to wander too close before attacking them. This hunting technique can only be observed here. Unfortunately, it was not the right time of the year to view orcas and as much as we waited and scanned the coast, we did not actually one.
4) Other animals we saw that day included guanacos (a close relative to the llama but bigger
and runs super fast), armadillos (reminded me of large rats with armor-plated bodies) and sea lions (not unlike those we saw in the Galapagos).

But the highlight of the day was of course, the southern right whales. And it was the perfect season to see them as September is when they start migrating to Piramides in hordes to breed. While it's actually possible to see these magnificent sea mammals from shore during high tide, the best way to appreciate them is to join a whale-watching tour where you go out to sea on a boat and get really close to them. At first, we were a little skeptical about the quality of the experience given the number of people that were jam-packed on to the boat but as soon as we made first contact (which wasn't very long after we started), that was all forgotten. There were just so many of them - we even spotted a rare albino. The whales were usually seen swimming in pairs - mother and baby. They could be easily spotted from a distance, not just because of their size, but also because of the hot gusts of steam that shoots high up out of their blowholes whenever they break the surface for air. Not that we had to look very far to see them - the whales are certainly not shy animals (I wouldn't be either if I was that large) and have no qualms about swimming close to the boats. At one point, we got so close to one that I was pretty sure that the sudden thud we heard was due to it hitting our boat.

Between the rocking boat and everyone clamoring for a better look, it was actually quite difficult to take a decent picture of the whales (even getting the horizon straight was a challenge). However, with some perseverance and with the camera set on burst-shooting, I eventually caught an amazing picture of one jumping out of the water against the backdrop of a setting sun. It was almost as though that particular whale was showing off. Of the thousands of pictures that we've taken so far on our trip, this is definitely one of our favourite given the circumstances.

We could not have asked for a nicer souvenir from our visit to Piramides.