PENINSULA VALDEZ, Argentina

... here it is ... PENINSULA VALDEZ, Argentina ... one of the magical places that I wanted absolutely to visit during thi trip ... not sure if this name is tellling you anything .. but PENINSULA VALDEZ is the biggest breeding area for the whales in the entire world ... in the peak season you can find here 11,000 whales ... and their number is increasin at a rate of 7% per year ... and the area of the peninsula is really small ... and there is 100% probability to see whales here ... so you can understand ... that I couldn't miss it ... and on top of that ... you can also watch other WILDLIFE ... like SEA LIONS ... SEA ELEPHANT and if you are lucky also ORCAS ... we didn't see the ORCAS ... but the rest ... especially the WHALES had been fantastic ... like a small dream ... this is the end of the breeding seasons so the number of whales isn't at its peak ... the male have already left towards south ... and the mother and the baby ... are start to follow them ... in 1 month here ... you won't be able to see whales anymore ... but don't worry .... if you want to visit this place ... the period you can do it goes from JUNE to mid DECEMBER ...so ... just plan your trip ... and come here ... :O ... anyways ... the way you can see the whales now is only by boat ... and after 10 minutes of navigation ...... you start seeing something amazing ... something I have seen only in TV before ... whales jumping out of the water .. just few meters in front of you ... ... believe me ... this trip was worth only for this trip to PENINSULA VALDEZ ... with the PERITO MORENO ... this is definitely ... one of the most amzing things I have ever seen in my life ... once the boat got into its position ... (it is not allowed to chase the whales ... the idea is that they will have to approach the boat if they like) ... more incredible things did happen ... here a whale getting close to the boat ...... or this pictures with two whales into it ... a back of a big one just five meters from the boat... and the tail of an other one in the background ... we had so many whales ... that at a certain point I thought they were fake ... :O ...... or like the mother that is helping her baby to swim and fish ... you can see the back of two animals in this pictures ... so close to the boat ...... or this whale which passed at least 4 times underneath the boat ... to a distance ... that I could have touched it ... if I wanted ...... simply amazing ... and these are other pics of a whale playing with the tail ... you should hear the SPLASH sound of the tail ... really divine ...... I just loved it ... I did expect a lot from this boat trip ... and honesty ... it was really stunning ... being there was eally amazing ... the only disappointment was that the tour was only 1h and 15min ... I would have loved to stay there an entire day ... or even more ... to know better about these animals ... mmm ... probably in my next visit ... :O ... if you get here in June, July ... you can see all of them getting into the peninsula from the mainland ... can you believe that!?!?! ... 11,000 whales one after the other ... like in a dream ... mmm ... I think I will have to rent again the movie WHALES RIDER ... :O ... mmm ... after the boat trip we went also to see an SEA ELEPHANT colony ... really nice ...... if you are lucky ... here you can see ORCA that attack the SEA ELEPHANT ... directly on the beach ... we weren't lucky .. or maybe .. the SEA ELEPHANT were lucky today ... but while I was there ... in my head I could still hear again and again the SPLASH sound of the whale tail in the water ... or their breathing ... a sound which will be difficult to forget for me ... :D ... our guide was a Austrian girl ... and she told me she was there for the first time in her life for the season ... but she is working very hard to come here again next year and next year again ... :o ... I can't blame her ... that would be a nice way to spent a part of my sabbatical year ... I am thinking about it ... :D