In search of America...

27-28 October: Two wonderful days in Peninsula Valdes! Together with Seb, Claire, Jean and Justine, we packed ourselves in the motorhome and headed to the arid and windy peninsula. More pampa, no fence along the road (a nice change!), and plenty of guanacos to photograph. 

A Patagonian tarentula, crossing the road as we drove by. Very fast to hide itself, but not faster than Seb, who nearly jumped out of the running car!

A nandu...far less common than the guanaco on the peninsula; and much shyer.

Playing along the coast and enjoying the exotic wildlife: Antarctic petrel, sea lions, kelp gull, Magellanic penguin and southern elephant seals. We got incredibly close to the penguins and the kids loved it!

An amazing surprise for wake-up on the first morning: a quiet sea and no wind, allowing the whales to come close to the shore for everyone to enjoy.

On such a flat sea, it was definitely tempting to try to get closer to the big animals (southern right whales). We thus got everyone on a tourist boat to explore the gulf. We didn't need to go very far to find a mother and her 3-4 months old calf, already 6 meters long! Impressive to see how closely related they were, floating above each other and the calf even feeding while we were there.   

Nothing better than a simple meal with good friends after such a rich day... and YES, for those who wondered, there is room for 9 people inside a 24 feet motorhome!!!