I took a series of buses to head north along the coast up to the center of the country again. The roads were snowy near Ushuaia when I left.
I spent the night in Rio Grande, then the next morning caught a couple of buses, first to Rio Gallegos (where I had time to walk around a bit), then to Puerto Santa Cruz. There was a brief ferry ride, and a brief journey through Chile, so we had to pass several control points.
Puerto Santa Cruz was the smallest town I had been in so far, without many amenities. I had planned on going to Monte Leon National Park, but it was closed (I think because of flooding, or possibly it was hard to get to to begin with, this late in the season). I ended out renting a bike and biking along the road, I think hoping to see some penguins, which I didn't. The bike ride was a nice change, but very muddy in spots.
The next day I took a bus up to Puerto Madryn. I'm forgetting now, but I think I'd planned on staying in Trelew, but then switched to Puerto Madryn, which seemed like a nice beach town. From there, I took a bus trip to Gaiman, a Welsh village, with lots of traditional Welsh dishes. There was a tea shop, but the teas looked massive, and I wasn't that hungry.
I then returned to Puerto Madryn. I wanted to go to the nearby Valdes Peninsula. I forget now whether there were no bus tours available or I just didn't like the options, but I ended out renting a car. I was very nervous about that, especially since it was a manual transmission, and I had already forgotten how to drive - I had to ask the rental car company manager for help getting the car out of its parking spot (parallel parked), because I was nervous about hitting the car in front of me. Once I got started, though, it all came back. I did a loop around the Peninsula. There was one spot where tourists gathered in the hopes of watching orcas drive themselves onto the beach to grab sea lion pups (which happened occasionally, but not enough to count on). I just continued on instead, admiring the other wildlife, and walked around a bit on the beach at Puerto Piramides.
It was a relief to make it back safely - I don't enjoy driving in foreign countries. The roads were gravel, and mostly empty, so at least traffic wasn't a big concern. I had more trouble with my Spanish getting gas than I had anywhere else I'd been.
The next day, I took a cab out to Punta Loma to see the sea lions.
From there, I took the bus to Esquel, to visit Los Alerces National Park. The only way to get there was a bus that doubled as the local school bus. I met one other tourist, also Argentinean, and we walked around together, which was nice Spanish practice.
We got the same school bus back, then from Esquel I took a much more comfortable bus to Bariloche. I'd already been there for a week in 2020, so didn't stay long, just wandered around town a bit, then flew out.
Graffiti memorializing the disappearances in the 80s.
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