Welsh colonies in the Chubut Valley

The Río Chubut is one of the most important rivers in Patagonia, flowing a massive 820 km from the eastern foothills of the Andes into the Atlantic at Bahía Engaño. It's thanks to the Río Chubut that the Welsh pioneers came to this part of the world in 1865, and their irrigation of the arid land around it enabled them to survive and prosper. You can trace their history west along the valley from the pleasant airy town of Trelew to the quiet little village of Gaiman, with a wonderful museum, and casas de té(cafés serving traditional Welsh afternoon tea). Further west, past little brick chapels sitting amidst lush green fields is the quieter settlement of Dolavon, with an old brick chapel. And if you're keen to investigate further into the past, there's a marvellous museum full of dinosaurs in Trelew,and some ancient fossils in the Parque Palaeontológico Bryn-Gwyn near Gaiman. From Trelew you could visit South America's largest single colony of Magellanic penguins on the coast at Punta Tombo.

Trelew

Trelew is the largest town in the Chubut Valley. Founded in 1884, it was named in honour of Lewis Jones, an early settler, and the Welsh colonization is still evident in a few remaining chapels in the town's modern centre. It's a cheerful place with a quietly busy street life, certainly more appealing than the industrial town of Rawson, 20 km east on the coast. Trelew boasts a splendid paleontological museum, a great tourist office and a couple of fabulous cafés.

Sights

There's the lovely shady Plaza Independenciain the town centre, packed with mature trees, and hosting a small handicraft market at weekends. Nearby is the Capilla Tabernacle, on Belgrano between San Martín and 25 de Mayo, a red-brick Welsh chapel dating from 1889. Heading east, rather more impressive is the Salon San David, a Welsh meeting hall first used for the Eisteddfod of 1913, and now sadly, used for bingo. On the road to Rawson, 3 km south, you'll find one of the oldest standing Welsh chapels, Capilla Moriah. Built in 1880, it has a simple interior and a cemetery with the graves of many original settlers, including the first white woman born in the Welsh colony.

Back in Trelew itself, not the oldest but quite the most wonderful building is the 1920s Hotel Touring Club, www.touringpatagonia.com.ar. This was the town's grandest hotel in its heyday. Politicians and travellers met in its glorious high-ceilinged mirrored bar, now full of old photographs and relics. You can eat lunch here and there's simple accommodation available; you should also ask the friendly owner if you can see the elegant 1920s meeting room at the back: almost perfectly preserved.

The town's best museum - and indeed one of the finest in Argentina - is the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, www.mef.org.ar.  Imaginatively designed and beautifully presented, the museum traces the origins of life through the geological ages, displaying dynamically poised dinosaur skeletons, with plentiful information in Spanish. Tours are free, and are available in English, German and Italian. There's also a reasonably cheap café and a shop. Highly recommended and great for kids. Also ask about the Parque Paleontológico Bryn-Gwyn, 8 km from Gaiman, with fossil remains from over the last 40 million years.

The Museo Regional Pueblo de Luis is appropriately housed in the old railway station, built in 1889, since Lewis Jones founded the town and started the railways that exported Welsh produce so successfully. It has interesting displays on indigenous societies, on failed Spanish attempts at settlement, and on Welsh colonization. Visit the wonderful new Visual Arts Museum, located in an attractive wooden building.

Around Trelew

The two most popular excursions are to see the penguin colony at Punta Tombo, 125 km south, and the Welsh valley towns of Gaiman and (less so) Dolavon. The Embalse Florentino Ameghino, 120 km west, is less interesting. There is a lovely rock and sand beach at Playa Isla Escondida, 70 km south, with secluded camping but no facilities.

Reserva Natural Punta Tombo is the largest breeding ground for Magallenic penguins in Patagonia, and the largest single penguin colony on the South American continent. This nature reserve is best visited from September to March, when huge numbers of Magallenic penguins come here to breed. Chicks can be seen from mid-November, and first waddle to the water in January or February. It's fascinating to see these creatures up close, but noisy colonies of tourists dominate the place in the morning; it's quieter in the afternoon. You'll see guanacos, hares and rheas on the way.

Gaiman

The quaint village of Gaiman is west of Trelew, in the floodplain of the Río Chubut, and was made beautifully green and fertile thanks to careful irrigation of these lands by Welsh settlers. After travelling for a few days (or even hours) on the arid Patagonian steppe, it will strike you as a lush green oasis, testimony to the tireless hard work of those hardy Welsh emigrants. Gaiman is a pretty little place with old brick houses, which retains the Welsh pioneer feel, despite the constant influx of tourists, and it hosts the annual Eisteddfod (Welsh Festival of Arts) in October. Around its pretty plaza are several tearooms, many of them run by descendants of the original pioneers, serving delicious and 'traditional' Welsh teas and cakes. There's the wonderful tiny Museo Histórico Regional Galés with an impressive collection of Welsh artefacts, objects and photographs, all evocative and moving testimony to extraordinary lives in harsh conditions. This is a great resource if you're looking for books on the subject or trying to trace your emigrant relatives.

A far more recent monument to human energy and inspiration is the extraordinary creation El Desafío  www.el desafiogaiman.com.ar, an imaginative sculptural world, made entirely from rubbish by the eccentric Joaquín Alonso. Painted plastic bottles, cans and wire form pergolas and dinosaurs are sprinkled liberally with plaques bearing words of wisdom and witty comments. Beginning to fade now, but still good fun.

Some 8 km south of town, there are fossil beds dating back 40 million years at the Parque Paleontológico Bryn Gwyn,  a mind-boggling expanse of time brought to life by a good-guided tour. It takes two hours to do the circuit, with fossils to see, as well as a visitor centre where you can try some fieldwork in palaeontology.

Dolavon

Founded in 1919, Dolavon is the most westerly Welsh settlement in the valley, and not quite as inviting as Gaiman, though its quiet streets are quite atmospheric, and on a short stroll you can find a few buildings reminiscent of the Welsh past. The main street, Avenida Roca, runs parallel to the irrigation canal built by the settlers, where willow trees now trail into the swiftly flowing water, and there's a Welsh chapel, Capilla Carmelat its quieter end.

Welsh chapels

If you're in your own transport, it's worth driving on from Dolavon back towards Gaiman via the neat squared fields in this beautiful irrigated valley, where you'll see more Welsh chapels tucked away among poplar trees and silver birches. Follow the main road that leads south through Dolavon, and then turn left and then the next right, signposted to Iglesia Anglicana. The San David Chapel(1917) is a beautifully preserved brick construction, with an elegant bell tower, and sturdy oak-studded door, in a quiet spot surrounded by birches. Further on you'll cross the raised irrigation canals the Welsh built, next to them small orchards of apple trees, with tidy fields bordered by alamo trees.