Valdes Birding & Whale Watch

2 Night/1 Day Pre-Tour
11/1/26: Arrival into & night in Puerto Madryn
11/2/26: Valdes Birding & Whale Watch, with night in Puerto Madryn

Notes:

• If you book this option without the Add-on Monte Day, you will have the day of 11/3  free until time of transfer to cruise embarkation

• We recommend you do not book flights with Flybondi as we have found them unreliable in the past. Best to book your flight into Puerto Madryn or Trelew with Aerolineas Argentinas or Jetsmart.
  

Explore the Peninsula Valdes and its abundant wildlife, departing after an early buffet breakfast. Drive to Puerto Piramides where we take a boat to search for Southern Right Whales. A 40-foot long whale, that swims slowly and is very curious, the ones here are mostly females with small calves. We may also see seabirds such as South American Terns, American and Blackish Oystercatcher, sometimes Snowy Sheathbills, with plenty of Kelp Gulls nesting on the cliffs, Great Grebes, and Rock Shags and Imperial Cormorant. There is a large Southern Sea Lion colony too, so quite an array of marine wildlife. Heading East by car from Piramides, we look out for Elegant Crested-Tinamou, and with luck Darwin's Nothura, Lesser Rhea, and mammals such as the odd and endemic "Mara" (a.k.a. Patagonian Cavy), and Guanaco  (a South American camelid). We could even see the small South American Gray Fox or a Large Hairy Armadillo. Once at the East coast of Peninsula Valdes there is a small Magellanic Penguin colony where it is not uncommon to see Patagonian Yellow Finch, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Patagonian Mockingbird, Mourning Sierra-Finch and Common Minor. Giant Petrels glide along the cliffs and rest on the pebble beaches waiting for the orcas feltovers. 

• Included:

  • 11/1 & 11/2 nights at Hotel Peninsula Valdes standard room with breakfast

  • Guided birding outing

  • Transportation for birding (airport transport is separate, see below)

  • Box lunch with water (bring a water bottle too for refilling)

  • Entrance Fees

  • Whale Watching Tour (weather-permitting)

  • Luggage transfer to cruise boat, Hondius 

  • Tips for locals (boat crew, local guide, & hotel housekeeping)

• Not Included:

  • Transfer from airport.   

    • We recommend booking your own shuttle through this site: www.transferpmy.com

  • Dinners on 11/1 & 11/2; not included to allow for flexibility/exploring town.

ADD-ON OPTION: Monte Specials

11/3/26: Monte Birding 7am - 2pm

Monte Birding: The driest part of Argentina, the Argentine Monte is an ecoregion of thorn scrub and grasslands. Seek out birds in the Monte that could include tricky specials such as Rusty backed Monjita, Carbonated Sierra-Finch, White-throated Cacholote, Patagonian Canastero, and Band-tailed Earthcreeper. See all of these is unlikely but we should connect with a couple of them. Along the way we are also likely to bump into some wetland species, such as Silvery Grebe, and Black- necked and Coscoroba Swans, White-winged and Yellow-fronted Coot, and typical Patagonian birds too such as  Long-tailed Meadowlark, Patagonian Mockingbird, Spectacled Tyrant, Chimango Caracara, Monk Parakeet, Burrowing Parrot, Chilean Flamingo among others.

• Included:

  • Guided birding outing 

  • Private transportation in a van or minibus according to group size

  • Box lunch with water (bring a water bottle too for refilling)

  • Entrance Fees