Animals of Patagonia

We spent about a week in Northern Patagonia in the Chubut Province. As mentioned in the penguin post, we visited Peninsula Valdes and the area south around Punto Tombo. It was a wildlife paradise, and we saw a lot more than just penguins. Here’s a selection of what we were lucky enough to see and capture on camera.

On the Sea

We left early so that we could catch high tide on Peninsula Valdes. High tide gave us the best chance of seeing active orcas, and the area is actually where there have been dramatic photos and videos taken of orcas beaching themselves to capture a baby seal snack. We did not see such drama, but we saw TONS of seals doing what seals do–laying in the sun and making a lot of noise. Here are some of our favorite shots.

Seal Buddies

There were so many baby seals, we have no idea how to quantify them. Hundreds? Thousands? They were playing in the surf, lying in the sun, and the adventurous ones were running up and down the beach testing their boundaries. Here are a couple of babies we followed on their journey down the beach.

The Sealions

Of course, you can’t have the babies without the parents. They were loud and plentiful. We barely have any internet connection here in El Cheltan where we’re currently staying, so I can’t upload any video of the cacophony. It was loud. However, we did capture some pictures of the King of the Peninsula and his ladies. Ande said she can hear Barry White when looking at this photo.

Elephant Seals at Caleta Valdes

Traveling south along the peninsula, there’s a huge spit that runs most of the coast called Caleta Valdes. That’s where the big lazies were. We’re talking huge elephant seals literally beached. The tide was out, and we saw a group of three we assumed were dead until one of them happened to move. They weren’t going to expend any energy trying to get back to the water. Their day was all about wating for the tide to come back to them. Here’s a small group and a closeup of a couple further down the beach.

The Predators

We were actually lucky enough to see orcas. They made a couple of passes up and down the beach. We saw adult seal patrols out watching for them. The big predators put on quite a show, but none of them came in close enough for a snack.

On the Land

The animals of the sea weren’t the only draw. Luckily the long hours driving on bumpy, dusty dirt roads were broken up by many animal sightings. Entering the peninsula on the way to the entrance to the Peninsula Valdes reserve, you’ll spot signs warning you of “loose animals” and others in the typical yellow triangle depicting the silhouette of leaping animals. Kind of like the leaping stag signs (that’s what we call the deer warning signs at home), but the silhouette isn’t quite right. The signs are warning you of guanacos, which are literally everywhere in Patagonia. The penguin post showed one at Punto Tombo. Here’s the best of our roadside photos. This is just one, but don’t get the wrong idea. The run in huge herds. You’ll notice he is on the wrong side of the fence. They just don’t respect boundaries.

The other overly common but somewhat elusive land animal was the Darwin’s Rhea. They’re ostrich-looking birds that are very skittish. I think all of our photos are of their butts. As soon as they discover they’ve been spotted, they bolt! Average speed of the fleeing rhea is about 30 mph.

We touched on the Mara in the post about Buenos Aires. Those were in the Eco Park, very much urban and tame mara. These were some we photographed out in the wild while driving between penguin viewing locations.

The other common bird we saw was a sort of road-runner chicken kind of thing with a decorative crown called the Elegant Crested Tinamou. Again, most pictures of butts as they were always running away from the car when we spotted them and were close enough to take a photo. A regal name for a really funny bird.

On the bird topic, we did capture a long-distance photo of a flock of flamingos on Isla de los Pájaros at the entrance to the reserve. The island is a ways off the coast where you park and can only be viewed with binoculars or a good zoom lens.

To finish off the birds, we did get a great photograph of one of the predators who no doubt hunt the “Little Guys” depicted below. He was hanging out with the penguins in Punto Tombo.

The Little Guys

There were also lots of smaller animals around. One of the most amusing was the furry little armadillo creatures who behaved like chipmunks in a national park. They were scavengers and many had no shame begging from the tourists at Caleta Valdes. Their official name is Piche (Patagonian Armadillo).

There were also lots of little fuzzy rodent creatures, Patagonian small guinea pigs (Microcavia australis). They were hard to photograph, so I was lucky to get this one.

And to finish off our survey of the animals of Northern Patagonia, we have this lizard guy that Ande caught on camera. They are even more elusive, so this was an impressive photo. We didn’t see any more on our visit.

All taken together, it was an amazing week of wildlife viewing. We never expected to see such variety so easily accessible. We have yet to spot a fox, but we are hopeful. Hope you enjoyed the photos!