Gallegos Estuary

The Gallegos River meets the Atlantic in a vast tidal estuary on the eastern edge of town. At low tide enormous mud flats are exposed, drawing migratory shorebirds — sandpipers, plovers, oystercatchers, and seasonal flocks of Hudsonian godwits that fly down from the Arctic. It is a designated Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve.

The coastal walking path along the waterfront starts at the old port area and runs east. Bring a windproof jacket — there is no shelter and the wind off the Atlantic is steady and cold even in summer. Binoculars help.

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The estuary has one of the largest tidal ranges in South America — the water can rise and fall by more than thirteen metres between low and high tide. Local fishermen have a long tradition of throwing their lines on the falling tide and walking back across dry mud where the river was an hour earlier.