Peninsula Valdes is the only place on the planet where Orcas beach themselves to catch seals. Of course, that only happens at certain times of year and even then it’s rare.

After we talked to two British women in our hostel about their trip to Peninsula Valdes, Elizabeth was looking forward to the whale watching tour. But, second to the prospect of seeing Animal Planet-style Orca-seal interaction, I was most excited about seeing penguins. What could be cooler than penguins on a beach in the spring?

We debated going on an arranged tour, but we’d heard they can be a bit rushed and we wanted to take our time. So we coughed up some cash and the owner of our hostel gave us a private tour of Peninsula Valdes. The desert-like landscape was fascinating and so unlike other parts of Argentina.

We didn’t see any Orcas, but the elephant seals, penguins, ostrich-like rheas, llama-esque guanacos, seals, and seal lions more than made up for it.

In the end, the seeing whales was a more profound experience, but there’s till nothing like standing three feet away from a nesting penguin.

Rheas & Guanacos

We were less than 10 minutes into our tour when we spotted a mother father rhea (similar to an ostrich) with 11 chicks on the side of the road. Our guide told us they usually have 10-12 babies in a litter.

Mother Father and baby rheas

Next up were guanacos, llama-like animals that are abundant on the peninsula. They often travel in groups of five or more, but we found these two alone.

Lone guanaco in the desert-like grasses of Peninsula Valdes

Guanaco grazing near an inlet

Penguins!

Then we stopped at my favorite point where we saw penguins. When we first walked toward the rope that keeps people off the beach, we were disappointed because we didn’t see any penguins in the distance. Then we looked down and there they were, just a few feet away.

This penguin greeted us with a wave and stayed posed for lots of photos.

Waving penguin

We didn’t have to use much zoom at all to capture a photo of this guy, who was standing near the barrier rope.

Posing penguin

This penguin and many others on the beach were nesting. We didn’t see any hatched chicks.

Nesting penguin — see the egg?

This penguin decided to take a dip in the ocean right before we left. It’s strange how much penguins look like ducks when they swim.

Penguin walking dramatic toward the surf

Elephant Seals, Sea Lions & Normal Seals

There were signs on the beach with sketches of male, female, and baby versions of all of these creatures, but from 200 feet away it was virtually impossible to distinguish one from the other. The females are nearly identical, at least to my untrained eye. But I’ll do my best labeling them.

One of the most fascinating parts of this experience was listening to the noises the animals make while they splash around in the water.

Female sea lions playing in the water

We weren’t sure which animal we were photographing when we took the picture, but based on its ginormous size (males can weigh up to 7,700 lbs), we were guessing an elephant seal. Looks like we were right — see its trunk-like nose?

Elephant seal bull

This little fellow was sleeping by himself on the beach sunning himself. For the most part, all of the seals and sea lions looked like this — inactive to the point of being dead. But no worries. That’s just how they roll.

Baby seal or sea lion

One of my favorite parts was seeing the sea lions walk out of the water using their feet-like fins. See the trail of footprints this one left behind him? These two are male sea lions, which you can tell by their thick necks.

Male southern sea lions

Birds & Lizards

We didn’t see too many other interesting creatures on our drive, but we did catch a glimpse of this pretty red bird off of a hiking trail near the beach.

There were also tons of lizards on the beach trails near the sea lions and penguins.

The Salt Lake

Our guide pulled over on the way back to show us this expansive salt lake. He said it was almost entirely salt, with very little water, and that they don’t take salt from it to eat. It was difficult to capture its size in a photo, but it’s one of the strangest things I’ve seen.