Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
approach, cabins facing the steppe offer an optional salad box with provisions from
the on-site greenhouse, takeout from the restaurant and à la carte excursions.
Once you've come all this way, it's optimal to stay at least three days. The time to
see fauna is between mid-September and early March, with January and February
ideal to go swimming. Bird-watching is best during November hatching but it's also
cool to watch sea lions nurse new pups in January. Most visitors fly into Comodoro,
but if you have a car, it's worthwhile to take the scenic coastal route from nearby
Camarones.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Puerto Deseado
0297 / POP 13,300
Some 125km southeast of the RN3 junction, RN281 weaves through valleys of rippling
pink rock, past guanacos in tufted grassland, to end at the serene and attractive deep-sea-
fishing town of Puerto Deseado. While the town is ripe for revitalization, it is also appar-
ent that change takes a glacial pace here: witness the vintage trucks that rust on the
streets like beached cetaceans. But the draw of the historic center, as well as the sub-
merged estuary of Ría Deseado, that brims with seabirds and marine wildlife, make
Puerto Deseado a very worthy detour.
In 1520 the estuary provided shelter to Hernando de Magallanes after a crippling
storm waylaid his fleet; de Magallanes dubbed the area 'Río de los Trabajos' (River of
Labors).
In 1586 English privateer Cavendish explored the estuary and named it after his ship
Desire,
its name today. The port attracted fleets from around the world for whaling and
seal hunting, compelling the Spanish crown to send a squadron of colonists under the
command of Antonio de Viedma. After a harsh winter, more than 30 of them died of
scurvy. Those who survived moved inland to form the short-lived colony of Floridab-
lanca. In 1834 Darwin surveyed the estuary, as did Perito Moreno in 1876.
Puerto Deseado is located two hours southeast of the RN3 junction at Fitz Roy via the
dead-end RN281. The center of the town's activity is based around the axis formed by
main streets San Martín and Almirante Brown.
Sights & Activities
