Our first night in Puerto Madryn, we decided to have dinner at our hostel, which we don't normally do, but neither one of us had the energy or desire to stroll around Puerto Madryn at night. As I said before, it had sort of a sketchy vibe. Plus, we were tired from a late night, an early morning, and a day of traveling (which included an incredibly sketchy 1-hour taxi ride--which we were overcharged for--with a heavy smoker through the vast, empty desert.)

Fortunately, our hostel was a pretty friendly place, with a good BBQ one night, and a good shrimp cook-out the next.

At the BBQ, Dan and I met a really cool Australian couple, Kathryn and Brad, who were planning to bike to Loberia de Punta Lomo the following morning to see the sea lions, who come to Puerto Madryn every year to mate, have their babies, and teach them to swim.

After wasting so much time in El Chalten, I was really anxious to have full days of exploring in Puerto Madryn, so even though we had booked a 2pm tour with Lobo Larsen to swim with the sea lions (which I was extremely extremely excited about) I thought it would be fun to get out on a bike to see them first.

Argentinian activities continue to be more extreme than they need to be

I think most people that know me would say, while I like to get out and move around, I am not an "extreme sports" fan. I love to burn calories, use my muscles, be outdoors, and I can be pretty competitive, but there are no sport activities I like to do enough to justify a broken leg.

On the bike ride to Punta Lomo, a broken leg wasn't the concern, but heat stroke--or suicide--was. Punta Lomo was a 12km bike ride away, and while we heard the road was unpaved, we heard it was still a "nice time."

No one had told us the 12km bike ride was a rocky, sandy, hilly, Iraq-esq stretch of road, that takes you through the middle of the desert.

After about 20 minutes of riding, it became clear that:

Sand and dirt are exhausting to peddle through, especially when it's blazing hot, with no cover or shade in sight
If we popped a tired, we'd be screwed
It's harder to ride through rocks and dust when you're on a slight grade
My bike was definitely broken--as in, changing gears was next to impossible

After a pretty painful 90 minutes, we made it to the lookout. Coming from San Francisco, I have to say that seeing the sea lions aren't a new thing for me, but it was really cool to see the sea lions in a natural environment. (And if you don't live in San Francisco, and don't see these animals regularly, this is worth a visit. Except, maybe you'd want to drive.)

What was really cool was that, while we were there, the animals were pretty active, and there were about 5 big males fighting for the right to mate. That was a sight to see. Lots of growling and roaring, just like lions.

The overlook was cool, but in the back of my mind, I knew we would eventually have to go back, and I was not looking forward to the 90 minute ride back through the sand.

As we were leaving the preserve, I asked the ranger if I could fill up my water bottle in her sink. I think she took pity on us because she gave me a completely new, freezing cold bottle of water.

I wish I could say the ride back was better, as it was downhill, but the wind was so strong in our faces it still felt like peddling uphill. Plus, we had a boat tour to make, so we pretty much had to peddle as fast as we could.

By the time we got back, with about 45 minutes spare before our snorkel tour, Dan and i fell into the nearest lunchery, and devoured 2 BBQ hamburgers, 2 Stellas, and a giant plate of fries before heading off to our snorkel trip.

Dan enjoying some lunch after a ridiculous ride.