7 Best Sights in Trelew, Gaiman, and Punta Tombo, Patagonia

From the middle of September through mid-April, almost 400,000 penguins live in the Area Natural Protegido Punta Tombo, the world's second-largest colony of Magellanic penguins and one of the most varied seabird rookeries. From the park entrance, a series of trails, boardwalks, and bridges lead you 3½ km (2 miles) through the scrubby landscape where the penguins nest to the sea. The quizzical creatures seem unafraid of humans, and peer up at you from under the bushes where, between September and November, both males and females incubate eggs, often right beside the trail. Look for the bald vertical strips on the penguins' abdomens: they pluck out feathers so the eggs can sit warm against their skin. Come December, the ground is teeming with fluffy gray young, and the adult penguins waddle back and forth from the sea to feed them. They may move comically on land, but once you reach the rocky outcrops overlooking the water you'll see how graceful and powerful these creatures become when they enter the water. You may also spot guanacos, seals, and Patagonian hares in the reserve, as well as cormorants and a host of other seabirds.

The last 22 km (14 miles) of the road from Trelew is fairly bumpy gravel. If you're not driving, you can easily reach Punta Tombo on a day tour from Trelew, Gaiman, or Puerto Madryn, although note that these often give you a scant 1½ hours in the reserve. A small restaurant next to the carpark serves good lamb empanadas and also has burgers, coffee, cakes, and cold beverages.

Trelew's star attraction is the paleontology museum, where four hushed and darkened galleries of fossils both real and replica take you back in time. You start among the South American megafauna (giant armadillos and the like) that may have cohabited with the first humans here, then plunge back to a time before the Andes existed. Back then Patagonia was a subtropical rain forest filled with dinosaurs, including one of the largest creatures ever to walk the earth: the 70-ton, 120-foot-long Argentinosaurus. Replicas of its massive leg bones are on display, along with countless other dino skeletons, including the latest discovery of the largest dinosaur in the world—a 130-foot-long herbivore. Other highlights include a 290-million-year-old spider fossil with a 3-foot leg span and the 70-million-year-old petrified eggs of a Carnotaurus. The visit ends with a peek into the workshop where paleontologists study and preserve newly unearthed fossils. Tours in English are available—they're a good idea, as only the introductions to each room are translated.

Throughout the Chubut Valley there are three dozen or so chapels where the Welsh settlers prayed, went to school, and held meetings, trials, and social events. Two of these simple brick chapels stand alongside each other just over the river from Gaiman—they're usually closed to the public, but are interesting to see from the outside. To reach the chapels, walk south from the square on J.C. Evans and cross the pedestrian bridge. Locals take a shortcut by ducking through the fencing where the bridge ends and walking 100 meters to the right along the riverside. Otherwise take the first right into Morgan and follow the dirt road around several bends.

The aptly named Capilla Vieja, next to Capilla Bethel, was built in 1880 and is used each year for the traditional Welsh Eisteddfod, when townspeople gather to celebrate—and compete with each other in—song, poetry, and dance under the chapel's wooden vaulted ceiling.

Photographs and testimonies of Gaiman's original 160 Welsh settlers are on display in the Museo Histórico Regional, along with household objects they brought with them or made on arrival. The staff are passionate about their history and will happily show you round the tiny building, which used to be Gaiman's train station.

Across the street from MEF is Trelew's old train station, which now contains a small museum of the town's history. Photos, clothing, and objects from local houses, offices, and schools form the mishmash of fascinating displays on the European influence in the region, the indigenous populations of the area, and wildlife.

Just south of Gaiman the green river valley gives way to arid steppes where clearly visible strata reveal more than 40 million years of geological history. Some 600 acres of these badlands—many of them bursting with fossils—make up the Parque Paleontológico Bryn Gwyn, a branch of the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew where a fossil trail and botanical gardens await. Confirm with the museum before going as the park can close periodically after heavy rain.