Our National Geographic Moment

After our fishing debacle we headed to Buenos Aires.  We did a day tour of the city, saw all the sites, and after a couple days it was time to say goodbye to Pam and Bry.  Upon arriving in Buenos Aires Adam and I quickly decided that we didn't want to spend our last week there. We did some quick research and found a place to stay in Puerto Piramides, which is on the Peninsula Valdez - a short 20 hr bus ride from Buenos Aires!

We learned of this place from a couple we met on our Antarctica cruise.  This is where Orcas come every Feb-April to hunt baby seals.  Professional film crews pay upwards of $250/day in hopes of videoing an attack.  Now I know it sounds really mean, but baby Orcas need to eat too...
What is remarkable is that the whales often beach themselves in the pursuit of the seals.  So with our destination decided we booked a hotel, bought our bus tickets, and made arrangement to take a tour out to Punta Norte where this event occurs.  We also upgraded to 1st class bus tickets which meant our seats reclined into a flat bed, so the bus ride was surprisingly pleasant.

Since we arrived too late to catch a tour on the first day we kayaked with some sea lions just outside of town.  I got some great go pro footage of them swimming just under our kayak.  We also walked out to the viewpoint to stretch our legs.

The next day we loaded up in the car for our tour and hopefully orca watching.  On our way we stopped by a colony of Magellan Penguins.  After Antarctica I was pretty penguined out, but these were slightly different and funny to watch.  We made it to Punta Norte a couple hours before high tide (the best time to see Orcas is 3 hrs either side of high tide).  We spent the next 4 hrs watching baby seals play in the waves and cry for their moms.  We began to wonder if the whales would show up (word on the beach was that they hadn't attacked in 30+ days).  All of a sudden we see 5 fins streaking through the water - the Orcas did show up!  We watched them swim parallel to shore, but they never made a move for any of the seals.  Seeing them swimming so close was still amazing.  After another hour not much was happening so we headed back to town.

We decided to try and hitch a ride with someone else in our hotel for the next day (so we didn't have to pay for a private car again).  Luckily we met Christian and Doris, a German couple, who were willing to give us a ride.  The next afternoon we headed out again, 3 hrs before high tide.  We spent the first couple hours talking with the professional photographers and volunteers who had been there for 5+ weeks every day.  I don't think I would have the patience to do that!  After 5 hrs we were beginning to think the Orcas weren't going to shown, and then Doris saw a fin!  It was a baby and momma and they swam within 5 meter of shore which got everyone excited.  For the next 30 minutes the Orcas stayed right in front of us, coming within a couple feet of the beach.  At one point the mom even kind of beached herself sideways.  Everyone held their breathe, maybe this would be the day!  Unfortunately (or fortunately if you are a baby seal) the Orcas didn't catch anything.  It was still a spectacular moment we were lucky to witness.  More pics here

Here is a link to a professional video of what is possible here

I was kind of sad to leave, it was so relaxing and slow paced there, a much needed break from our hectic travel the last month.  But alas, it was time to head to country number 16 Peru!