"Trelew"

65 kilometres from Puerto Madryn and 20 kilometres from Rawson and Playa Union lies Trelew, a communication and transport knot, as well as a commercial and industrial centre in Chubut´s  North Eastern Atlantic Distric.

This progressive and dynamic city concentrates an important service net for tourism: hotels, receptive travel agencies, restaurants and an international airport. It arose in the second half of 1886 as head station of a railway track that linked the Lower  Chubut River Valley to Gulf Nuevo (Puerto Madryn).

Trelew is Welsh for "Lewistown", in honour to Luis Jones, who played an outstanding role in the settlement of this town. It is the departing point for sightseeing tours to the Lower Chubut River Valley, with its traditional towns Gaiman and Dolavon, the Magelianic  Penguin colony "Punta Tombo", Rawson, Playa Union and Rawson Harbour, Dam Florentino Ameghino,  Camarones,  Valdes Peninsula and Puerto Madryn. Also worth visiting are Trelew´s Palaentological Museum Egidio Feruglio, one of the most relevant in South America not only for the pieces it treasures, but also for the research activities carried out to solve the mysteries of Patagonian Fauna and Flora evolution in the last 380 million years.

Palaentological Museum E. Feruglio

Trelew Square

In permanent exhibition are dinosaurs that once lived in our territory, among them the largest known vertebrate in the world, the Argentinosaurus. This is an invitation to an amazing trip to the past. Other places of interest are the Regional Museum of History "Pueblo de Luis", which exhibits the history of the town and its population; the Moriah Chapel  and its graveyard, with the tombs of the first settlers arrived in Patagonia; Independencia Square, with its old summerhouse; and many historical monuments. Respecting the old Welsh tradition, Trelew is permanent seat of the Eisteddfod, annual meeting that takes place only in Wales and Chubut, and the International Choir Festival, organised every two years. The activities in the area of culture extend beyond the regional limits: in Trelew we find four schools belonging to the National University of Patagonia, as well as several secondary schools with different orientation and Terciary institutes for tourism-related studies.

Only hundred and seven kilometres separate Trelew and Rawson from the Protected Area Punta Tombo, where the largest continental Magellanic Penguin Colony concentrates from September through April.

Its large Penguin population - well over 500 000 individuals - and the unique features of these animals attract visitors and researchers from all over the world. Specially designed

path  circuits allow close observation of the area and of other local sea-bird and steppe species. 

  Florentino Ameghino Dam

  This impressive work of architecture is located 120 km.  from  Trelew to the West. Its population gathers in a quiet village in an amazing setting of gigantic red walls of rock,  where we also find a striking contention wall and artificial water-reservoir over 25 km long.

There is a camping place with grill facilities, lavatories and a mini market. The choice of sporting activities include canoeing, floating, fishing, technical climbing and trekking. 

Fishing can be practiced either on marine beaches or on Florentino Ameghino Dam, which is an orchard in the middle of the Patagonian plateau. Although the place is beautiful and very attractive, the road that leads there is made of rubble and it also has a cliffy area, so it is advisable to enter with caution.

Chubut River, which is constituted by the outlet of that dam, has plenty of Rainbow Trout, Brown Fish, Perch and Fontinalis Trout. In this area the river is narrow, with firm and clean shores, therefore ideal for the  practice of fly or spinning fishing. If the fisherman wants to make a try, he can do so by driving along the shore in order to choose or find the most suitable place. Florentino Ameghino Dam offers very good restaurants as well as camping sites and supplying stores.

Sometimes the dam gates are too open, so in this case the river grows too much and flows down rather muddy, causing fishing possibilities to be diminished. Nevertheless, the situation goes back to normal in a matter of a few days.  It is advisable to get information about the state of the river before going there. To do so, please contact Mr. Pedro Olivera at 54-11-2965-15699162.