Puerto Madryn

A narrow neck ties this peninsula to the mainland and each stretch of coast holds different animals. The inner roads are gravel, so nothing moves faster than 60 kilometres an hour.

The bay is shallow and calm, so the whales come in to give birth. The boat cuts the engine and waits, and the whales approach on their own.

Magellanic penguins in the hundreds of thousands dig burrows and raise chicks here. The path runs between the burrows, so penguins cross right at the feet.

A platform on the cliff looks down on the colony spread over the shingle. The noise of males fighting for space carries all the way up.

A ship was sunk on purpose inside the bay, which lets beginners dive on it. The water is cold, so a thick suit is hired.

Welsh settlers laid out this village, whose brick houses and tea rooms remain. The language is still taught in the school.

A marine exhibition built on the cliff opens its windows onto the bay itself. Recordings of whale sound play in each room.

It lies 17 kilometres out, close enough for a short drive. Telescopes are set up to watch the sea lions below the cliff.

In a wetsuit, swimmers go in beside the sea lion colony. The young ones show curiosity and circle around a person.

Small brick chapels the settlers built stand scattered through the valley. The gravestones carry Welsh and Spanish side by side.

At this shingle beach on the northern tip of Peninsula Valdes, orcas slide deliberately onto the shore to snatch sea lion pups. It happens mainly in March and April near high tide, and is never guaranteed. The beach is closed; you wait at the lookout above.

A beach 15 km north of town where, in whale season, southern right whales swim in to just metres from the shore. No boat needed: you stand on the sand and hear them breathe. High tide brings them closest.

Where the Welsh settlers came ashore in 1865 and dug caves into the coastal bluff to survive their first winter. Traces of the caves remain, and a small museum alongside tells the landing story. Head south on foot along the seafront road to reach it.

A palaeontology museum in Trelew, about an hour south, gathering the province's dinosaur fossils. A cast of Patagotitan, among the largest dinosaurs known, stretches across the hall. Through glass, technicians can be seen preparing fossils in the lab.

A small town deep in the Chubut valley, where irrigation channels dug by Welsh settlers run beside the streets. The waterwheel of an old flour mill, once turned by channel water, survives. Quieter than Gaiman, it pairs well with it for an afternoon.

A long promenade above the town's sandy beach along Golfo Nuevo. In whale season, spouts in the bay can be spotted from the walkway itself. In the morning the sun climbs over the gulf itself, drawing plenty of people out.