Established in June 2022, Parque Nacional Islote Lobos is one of Argentina’s newest national parks and was the next stop after Lihué-Calel on our journey through South America. Islote Lobos roughly translates to ‘the sea lion islets’, and along with a large colony of South American sea lions this coastal national park is also home to Magellanic penguins, dolphins and southern right whales, the latter of which visit in winter months. Additionally, the park has been designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by Birdlife International1,2.
Prior to visiting we could find little information online about this off-the-beaten track national park, but what we had read suggested that we could access Islote Lobos by walking northwards from the town of Playas Doradas. The day before visiting, we drove through the town and used the trusty iOverlander app to find a lovely little park-up right on the coast, around 3km south of the town. As soon as we arrived, a friendly elderly Argentinian gentleman jumped out of his campervan and came over to say ‘hi’ to us. He shared with us stories of his big solo road trip through Paraguay, Chile and Argentina, and it was great to hear him speak of the wonderful places he had visited. Although with our limited Spanish we didn’t quite understand everything he said!
After a lovely evening watching a pair of American oystercatchers on the shoreline as the sun set, we drove the short journey back into the town of Playas Doradas and parked up along the beach-front close to the start of the hike to the national park. We set off early whilst the tide was ebbing in order to be able cross the river Arroyo Salado (which meets the sea just north of Playas Doradas) when it was low, and we gave ourselves a maximum hiking duration of 5 hours to ensure we could get back across the river safely. There was a strong wind blowing as we walked over the beach, and our legs stung from the wind-blown sand. We hoped that this would improve once we reached the trail! We waded across the river and found the start of a trail and a sign welcoming us to the national park. A little further along there were also information boards describing and detailing the wildlife living in the national park. However, what was missing was any information about where exactly the trail leads to, and where the wildlife (namely penguins and sea lions!) can actually be found!
The trail runs along the edge of a stunning beach with a rocky shoreline, and luckily the wind did die down, making the walk all the more pleasant! As we walked we passed numerous American oystercatchers, neotropic cormorants and kelp gulls on the shore. We also saw a tawny-throated dotterel bobbing and foraging for food, a very cute two-banded plover, and a flock of royal terns flying overhead. There were signs of a nearby penguin colony but sadly this was in the form of a handful of dead penguins along the beach. Perhaps they had been caught out by strong currents along the rocky shoreline.
We followed the trail for around 5km until we neared Punta Pozos. However, just before reaching the point, there was a sign saying ‘no pasar sin autorizacion’ or ‘no entry without authorisation’! It seems as though the majority of this national park is not open to the public, and further research following our visit told us that in order to encounter much of the wildlife you need to take a tour from the town of Las Grutas. This was unfortunate, but with so little information on the internet (and much of it being in Spanish!) we knew that there was a chance this would be the case when we set off. Despite not seeing any of the main charismatic species that we’d hoped to find, we enjoyed the hike immensely. We didn’t pass a single other person on the trail, and it was wonderful to see such a wild and untouched area of coastline. We finished off our walk with a quick swim in the sea to cool off and then headed back to our beautiful park-up just outside of Playas Doradas for another night.
The next morning we headed southwards to the much more well-known national park of Peninsula Valdés, which we will tell you all about in the next blog.
How to get there
Information on how to access Islote Lobos National Park is hard to find online. If you want to walk in the southern part of the national park like we did, your starting point is Playas Doradas. Playas Doradas is easy to get to as it is just 30km from the town of Sierra Grande along a paved road. The roads running through the town are gravel, but are in fine to drive on.
From what we understand from our research, it is possible to book a boat tour from Las Grutas to see the wildlife inside the national park. However, there is still limited information available regarding the tours available so if you are interested then it is probably worth visiting the tourist information office in Las Grutas.
When to go
Much of the wildlife is present within the national park year-round with the exception of southern right whales, which visit only in the winter months.
Sources
- Global National Parks: https://www.globalnationalparks.com/argentina/islote-lobos/
- Patagonia-Argentina: https://www.patagonia-argentina.com/en/un-nuevo-parque-nacional-en-la-patagonia/