Back to Caleta Valdés

A crazy amazing day in Patagonia and it is not even noon yet. After breakfast, I drove out to Caleta Valdés, hoping to see the orcas again. Two days ago, high tide was 10:00am, so I estimated that it would be around noon today. I left Puerto Pirámides around 9:00am, allowing two hours for the drive to Caleta Valdés and one extra hour before high tide.

It was a beautiful drive, with lots of guanacos and rheas out in the early morning. I took a different route this time, crossing directly through the center of the peninsula, an area of sprawling estancias and dry saline lake beds. The Patagonian desert was glowing in the morning light and I felt the glow pouring deep down into me.

I could not have timed my arrival at Caleta Valdés better. I got to the overlook, the same one where I had seen the attack two days earlier. The orcas were just arriving and they were out in force. So were the tourists, which was to be expected since it was a Saturday. The parking lot was full of tour vans, with only a few private vehicles like mine. I went up to the boardwalk and joined the people lined up along the railing. Judging from the languages I heard, most of them seemed to be German, French, and Dutch.

Elephant seals were gathered in small groups at the tip of the sand spit, as well as at another sand spit across the inlet, and all along the beaches below us. They seemed to be inviting the orcas to lunch.

And soon the feeding began. Four orcas circled around the tip of the sand spit while one of them launched itself up onto the beach. It grabbed a seal and dragged it back out into the water to savor its victory. Another attack happened on the beach below, while another happened on the sand spit on the opposite side of the inlet. The water soon had big bloody red splotches where the orcas were feeding.

The most dramatic attack happened at the tip of the sand spit directly across from the overlook. An orca came up onto the beach and stayed there for at least 30 seconds, devouring a seal at a leisurely pace.

The crowd of tourists reacted with gasps of horror as the orca dined on the seal. A little girl cried out "no, no!" But it was another display of raw nature unfiltered, unedited, unbelievably real.

After about half an hour, the feeding frenzy eased up as the orcas had their fill. They began to move out through the opening in the inlet and head further down the coast. The tourists began to disperse as well, heading back to their tour vans. I soon had the boardwalk to myself and was able to observe the elephant seals (the ones that the orcas had not eaten), the males challenging each other defiantly, the females and pups sleeping placidly on the beach. They didn't seem to be concerned or aware of the carnage that had just taken place.

I drove up the coast a few kilometers and found a beautiful cliffside overlook, a nice place to stop for lunch, relax, do some reading and writing. I spent several hours there, just sitting in utter amazement at the world in front of me. The Valdés Peninsula lived up to all of my dreams and exceeded even my wildest expectations.

When I got back to Puerto Pirámides, it was late afternoon, still hot under the Patagonian sun. I went out to my favorite cliff and sat reading my book until the sun set. Then I walked up the main street of town and found a restaurant for dinner. I had another milanesa de pollo, with salad and a soothing Quilmes beer. A beautiful day.

Milanesa de pollo, with salad and Quilmes beer

That night I got my things ready for the drive back to Trelew. I felt the sadness of this beautiful road trip coming to an end. I went down to the beach after dark and took in the quiet solitude of the Patagonian night.

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