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Don't mention sheep shagging

From Rich in the Americas! in Trelew, Argentina on Dec 08 '06

Rich has visited no places in Trelew
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Poster in the archeological musuem.
Poster in the archeological musuem.
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Donated by Sweden as a sign of friendship in the mid-50s, this Welsh settlement looks almost exactly unlike Cardiff.  It's also not that interesting.  The archeological museum is a highlight and that about does it really.

The reason we came here was that the tours to the penguin colony on Punto Tombo are cheaper and you don't spend so long driving.  One thing we didn't know is that the tours almost always leave in the afternoon and ever tour agency is shut all weekend, even though they have tours at the weekend.  Just doesn't make sense!

Baby penguin.  Aaahhh!
Baby penguin. Aaahhh!
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Anyway, the helpful lady at the tourist office phoned a few places and found out that every afternoon at 1.30pm a guy turns up outside the tourist office with a van and whoever's there can pay 80 peso (I think it was 80) and go.  So that's exactly what we did.

Penguins smell.  They really do.  They smell of poo, both the fresh and rotten varieties, and rotten fish.  So when you step out of the air-con, your senses are slapped about a bit by this onslaught and you compulsed to gag a little bit.

The (smelly) colony.
The (smelly) colony.
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Once you've got over this, you'll notice penguins happily wandering around the car park trying to remember where they parked there 1997 Ford Escort Ghia.

There were a lot of penguins and they're not scared by the tourists, they'll wander around and snap at anyone getting too close.  The guide was really knowledgable and you get a good 1 1/2 hours there.  Definitely worth a visit and Trelew is a good starting point if you're heading further south anyway.

We made it back to Trelew just in time to get catch the bus to Rio Gallegos.


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