“Argentine Patagonia is a region full of nature that offers endless opportunities to worldwide photographers who visit it. Its Atlantic coast shows us immense scenarios that give all their beauty”.
The destination that we named WILD COAST includes the Atlantic coasts of the Valdés Peninsula region and the surroundings of the town of Camarones, in the province of Chubut, argentine Patagonia. Locations where marine fauna abounds and ideal to be visited during the breeding season.
From Puerto Madryn we will be able to navigate the crystal waters of the Nuevo Gulf and look for banks of anchovies that will give us the possibility of finding dolphins pods feeding. We will also seize any opportunity with pelagic birds such as albatross, petrels, penguins, shearwaters, jaegers, among others species such as terns and cormorants. During this navigation we can also appreciate the coastal cliffs that fall into the sea where there are nesting sites for the Magellanic Cormorant and egg predators such as the Dolphin Gull and the Snowy Sheathbill.
A spot with great photographic potential is Punta Ninfas, located at the southern end of Nuevo Gulf. It exhibits in impressive landscapes of coastal cliffs the connection between the Nuevo Gulf and the Atlantic Sea. There we will have the chance to descend to the coast and be very close to a colony of southern elephant seals. Another aspect that makes Punta Ninfas a very attractive place is the frequent, but unpredictable, sightings of orcas in search of one of their favorite prey, the southern elephant seal.
15km from Punta Ninfas, is Estancia El Pedral, located on the southern coast of Nuevo Gulf and home to a colony of Magellanic Penguins. El Pedral coas always gives us dream sunsets and great penguin photographs.
80km from Puerto Madryn, we get to the Port of Rawson, on Engaño Bay, a boarding point to navigate the open Argentine Sea in search of one of the smallest and most unknown dolphins in the world, the Commerssons Dolphin, an endemic species of Patagonia.
Commerssons dolphins are sociable active animals and their display of aerial acrobatics and leaps out of the water make them one of the best species to see. Most of the time they approach us to play with the waves produced by the boat. Its speed and sudden changes in direction make sighting a challenge for nature photographers.
Our next “wild coast” proposed by this expedition takes place 320km south of Puerto Madryn. The town of Camarones, located on the shores of the homonymous bay, will be the starting point to make an exclusive navigation towards the White Islands. This group of islands is located off the coast of Camarones and are full of sea lions, cormorants, skuas, snowy sheathbills, dolphin gulls, the endemic White-headed steamer duck, and with some luck more commerssons dolphins.
Touring the surroundings of Camarones Bay, we can access to beautiful beaches and coves and find species such as the White-headed Steamer Duck, shorebirds, 3 species of oystercatchers, 3 species of terns, birds of prey and rheas, until reaching the Cabo dos Bahías Protected Natural Area, the gateway to the Interjurisdictional Patagonian Coastal Marine Park. In addition to the large Magellanic Penguin colony of the park, we will be able also to find fur seals, foxes, guanacos, wild cats, skunks, cormorants, among other species in an inhospitable and dazzling Atlantic landscape.
Target species: Dusky Dolphin, Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Commerson’s Dolphin, South American Fur Seal, Southern Sea Lion, Southern Elephant Seal, Pampas Fox, Screaming Hairy Armadillo, Hog-nosed Skunk, Geoffroy's cat, Pampas Cat, Guanaco, Mara, Black-browed Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Southern Gian Petrel, Northern Gian Petrel, Chilean Skua, Arctic Jaeger, Brown Skua, South American Tern, Magellanic Cormorant, Imperial Cormorant, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, Aplomado Falcon, Magellanic Pengüin, White-headed Steamer Duck, Olrog’s Gull, among others.
See Check-list of birds for Nuevo Gulf
See Check-list of birds for Camarones Bay
Season: September to march
Recommended minimum duration: 5 days
Base: Hotel in Puerto Madryn and cabins in the Camarones Bay.
Air terminals:
Almirante Marcos A. Zar International Airport (REL), Trelew.
El Tehuelche Airport (PMY), Puerto Madryn.
Approximate sunrise and sunset times at location:
06h sunrise.
8:00 p.m. sunset.
The minimum and maximum temperatures range between 50°F and 86°F.
