A UNESCO world heritage site since 1999, the Peninsula Valdés is another must-see destination near Puerto Madryn. So we got up early once again for another day trip.
On our way there we got energized with a hot mate. The drink, that is, pronounced [ˈmate]. Not a good looking dude from Australia.
First stop was another colony of magellanic penguins, much smaller than the one at Punta Tombo we saw the way before.
Most of them were spending the morning on the beach. A few though made the effort to climb up the rocks all the way to our viewpoint. 
A penguin chick waiting for food.
Alright, since we've already showed you guys penguin pictures last time, let's move on to the real highlight: the elephant seals! Our tour guide promised us that we'll be able to "watch them giving birth, fighting for a female, and copulating". Sounds like a fun afternoon, doesn't it? Here we go:
The really large ones are the males. Every few minutes or so a fight would break out between two of them, but usually they got settled quickly. Like, "roaaaar how about I hit on your female?" - "ROAAAR how about I crush you with my giant big belly?" - "Ok never mind.".
That's as close as we could get to the seals. So unfortunately we don't have any close-up views of any fat lazy males. ;-)
Oh actually we do, here's one! -->
Seriously - in fact, the males are so heavy that during those fights they sometimes crush one of their newborns to death. :-( 
... and lots of fresh ingredients for your next pizza:
Oh, and one more thing. In case you've always been wondering "what's the most popular candy in Argentina?" - the following picture should give you a clue:
Any particular reason Max is featured next to the lazy males post? :) I see what you did there.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures! Keep having fun!