When we last left you we had just arrived in Puerto Madryn, a welsh settlement on the east coast of Argentina, in the north part of Patagonia. It is famed for whale watching as well as other abundant wildlife that live or migrate to the Peninsula Valdes.
Once again we arrived too late to see whales (what is it with us - we missed them by a few weeks, same thing happened in South Africa on our honeymoon - determined to see them in NZ or Oz!)
Undeterred though we decided to make the most of the scenery and visit the Peninsula where we got our first view of penguins, sea lions and elephant seal colonies in mating season.
After a day of seeing these amazing sea animals in their natural habitat, we went one step further and booked to go snorkelling with the sea lions the next day.
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day, headed to the dive centre and wet suited up - hood and boots and all (no danger of getting another sea urchin in my foot here).
On the way out on the boat we met our instructor who told us how to interact with the sea lions - tickle their tummies like dogs, don't worry if they bite you it is a affectionate etc.
As we prepared to get in the water, our captain happily told us that only three weeks ago at the spot we were in they had to abandon the trip as they spotted three killer whales lurking to get their prey - not the best news to hear as I plunged into icy water, flippers and all. As it happens we were to find out later that day that there had actually been killer whales in the vicinity when we had been in the water but luckily not near us!
Anyway once in the water we had to wait and see if the sea lions would come and interact with us. Only the day before the instructor had told us they had none come into the water so we had all our fingers crossed. We need not of worried, within minutes we were surrounded by young females and a few adults. They took their time to get familiar with us before letting us touch them but it was absolutely amazing to be swimming and playing with them - one even went so far to kiss mike - must have appreciated those clammy flipper hands of his!
I had questioned what we do if a male got into the water with us on the boat but the instructor ensured us this was very unlikely to happen which was good as the alpha males are huge and during mating season very aggressive towards challengers - I was worried for Mike's safety :). So low and behold when I turned around midway through the snorkelling to come face-face with a male. I was little nervous to say the least and hid behind the instructor who gallantly got in front of mike and I. Luckily it seems that this alpha was more into peace than war and happily floated alongside us, watching his harem of females flirt with mike.
Here are a few photos of our amazing experience. Video to follow soon.
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