Backpacking South America

So, we don’t actally have any Welsh roots, but we did spend some time in Trelew and Gaiman, two of the original welsh settlements in Argentina.

Cawsom hwyl!

Puerto Madryn is a quiet little town.  It’s touristy for the wildlife it offers, but there isn’t a whole lot to do there.  There is an ecological museum, which we visited and was very informative and then there’s the beach, which on a beautiful summer day is probably pretty amazing.  It’s a huge beach.  We’ve been told that a lot of Chileans come here in the summer because the water is warmer.  We had one day where it was pretty windy and cold – that was the day we decided to walk to the eco-center (abt. 3 miles, and back) – why?  Puerto Madryn is also pretty famous for the Aluminum Plant located just outside the town, which was installed in 1971.  Prior to the Aluminum Plant there were roughly 6,000 inhabitants in this quiet beach town.  Now, the Aluminum Plant has brought over 80,000 inhabitants and is the leading producing of aluminum and largest factory in Argentina.  (Colin Powell used to be an owner.)   We ended up only staying in Puerto Madryn for 3 days. 

After that it was time to move on.  So, we caught a bus to Trelew, which is one of the little Welsh communities, about an hour from Puerto Madryn.  We stayed for a night in this old hotel, The Touring Club, which has been there for many years and is probably a trademark of the town.  It was always pretty busy in there too.  While there, we visited several museums, primarily they have a pretty decent museum of paleontology.  They have an old Community Center, which is now used for Bingo, but unfortunately it wasn’t open the day we were there.  The night we were there we had an amazing dinner in this Old Mill.  Jared had a steak in a Malbec reduction sauce and Carra took the prize with a steak with a Roquefort sauce and grilled pears. 

We considered going back to Trelew just for dinner there again.  From here, we caught our ride to Punta Tombo to visit the largest colony of penguins anywhere.

After Punta Tombo, we caught a bus to Gaiman, another Welsh community, about 30 minutes from Trelew.  We arrived in the afternoon, just in time for tea.  That’s pretty much all there is to do there…drink tea…and look at each other.  In fact, that’s probably the main tourist attraction.  It’s a very small community, quiet and relaxing.  We ended up spending 3 days there.  We stayed in this very cute Bed and Breakfast called Yr Hen Ffordd.  It was very comfortable and the couple that ran the place were very jolly.  Trust me, jolly is the right word for them.  They were extremely friendly and helpful.  We really enjoyed our time with them and in their place.

One day we took a tour to a nearby Dique, or dam.  We received a lot of information on this tour, all in spanish – so it was good practice, but extremely tiring.  We hiked down the canyon and had a picnic at the base of the dam.  It was a very tranquil and a peaceful day.

It was overall a very low key vacation.  It was very different from the everyday hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires.  We had plenty of time to just relax and recharge for a few more weeks of Spanish classes in Mendoza.