After 4 days of terrible weather, we left El Chalten on a bright, sunny morning (of course) and went back to El Calafate, where we spent one night basking in the glow of the internet, and hanging out at America del Sur, before catching our flight to Puerto Madryn.

Puerto Madryn--which is pronounced, Puerto MAH-drin--is a 24 hour bus ride from El Calafate, which bizarrely equals a one hour flight. I think the time discrepancy is because the roads are so terrible, and because busses move about 30 miles an hour the entire trip. Google says it's about 16 hours away, so who knows.

Google map image of El Calafate to Puerto Madryn

I have to say, my first impressions of Puerto Madryn were not super positive. Mostly because I thought Puerto Madryn would be like Monterey, or Carmel, when in reality, it was more like any sketchy, junky beach town you might find in the US.

But we weren't in town for the town itself, we were in town to see the animals.

Puerto Madryn is the jumping off point for Punto Tombo (the penguin colony) sea lions and elephant seals, dolphins, and if you're there from May-December, whales!

So, while the town itself wasn’t anything to write home about, I still viewed our arrival with optimism, hoping we’d get up close and personal with some of the animals I was so excited to see.