Puerto Madryn – Day of Tuxedos

With our friends Ken and Gail on the beach at Porto Tombo

Nestled on a sheltered harbor facing the Golfo Nuevo, Puerto Madryn is Argentina’s second-largest fishing port. In the mid-19th century, the Argentine government encouraged European Emigration to remote Patagonia territories. You see, what was happening is Argentine (recently declared independent from Spain) was trying to push south. It had well established towns and cities in the northern part, including Bueno Aires, but needed more population farther south as Chile was also trying to push east over the Andes mountains toward the Atlantic.

We came across this Lama along the pathway (along with a bunch of his buddies).

In 1865, Welsh immigrants arrived in Puerto Madryn on the 27th of July, settling a hundred square miles of land along the Chubut River. Italians and Spaniards soon followed, surpassing the Welsh in number. But the heritage of the original immigrants lives on in the region’s distinctive windmills and chapels. Several towns, too, have retained their Welsh names; Puerto Madryn was named for the estate of Sir Love Jones-Parry, one of the colony’s founders. Today, the city is the gateway to the scenic Valdes Peninsula, an important nature reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site.