Argentina
Camarones sits on the barren Patagonian coast of Argentina's Chubut Province, a fishing village of roughly 1,500 people whose name—"shrimps" in Spanish—reveals its commercial raison d'être with characteristic Argentine directness. This is deep Patagonia: a landscape of scrubby steppe, relentless wind, and a coastline where the South Atlantic crashes against rocky headlands that harbor some of the most important marine wildlife concentrations in South America.
The town's primary natural attraction is the Cabo Dos Bahías Provincial Reserve, located thirty kilometers south along a dirt road that winds through the treeless steppe before arriving at a dramatic rocky headland where a colony of approximately 30,000 Magellanic penguins nests annually from September through March. Unlike the more famous Punta Tombo colony further north, Cabo Dos Bahías receives relatively few visitors, creating the rare opportunity to observe penguins in near-solitude—sitting among their burrows as the birds waddle past at arm's length, oblivious to human presence, their comic gait and expressive faces providing entertainment that requires no interpretation.
The reserve's wildlife extends well beyond penguins. Guanacos—the wild relatives of the llama—graze the steppe grasslands in herds that can number in the dozens, their alert, aristocratic bearing contrasting with the penguins' comic energy. Patagonian hares (maras), large, long-legged rodents that look like a hybrid of rabbit and deer, bound across the scrub. Along the coast, sea lion colonies occupy the rocky platforms below the cliffs, and southern elephant seals—the largest of all seals, with males weighing up to four tons—haul out in wallowing groups during the breeding season.
The Patagonian steppe surrounding Camarones possesses a stark, windswept beauty that grows on the visitor. The landscape is essentially treeless—wind speeds that routinely exceed sixty kilometers per hour prevent any vertical growth—but the low scrub supports a surprising diversity of hardy plants, and in the brief Patagonian spring (October-November), wildflowers add splashes of yellow and purple to the otherwise monochrome terrain. The vast skies, unobstructed by any vertical element, produce sunsets and cloud formations of spectacular drama.
Expedition cruise ships anchor off Camarones and tender passengers to the small fishing pier, from which ground transport connects to Cabo Dos Bahías. The town itself offers basic services and a handful of restaurants serving the local shrimp in preparations that range from simply grilled to elaborately sauced. The wildlife season runs from September through March, with November and December offering the best combination of penguin activity (chick-rearing season), pleasant temperatures (15-22°C), and manageable wind. The wind, it should be noted, is never truly absent in Patagonia—it is simply a matter of degree—and visitors should bring layers and wind-resistant outer garments regardless of the calendar.