we spent a few days in punta arenas, chile as a base point for taking this trip to isla magdelena to see the thousands and thousands of penguins that roost there each year to lay their eggs and raise their young.
the island is completely uninhabited by humans, and the penguins are the rulers of the land. the only sign of man is a small lighthouse and path marked off by rope to keep us from stepping on the penguin burrows, although as you´ll see in the pictures, the penguins are very unconcerned by people, and do just as they please whether there is a roped path or not.
it was so much fun and we were completely amazed by the amount of penguins. they´ve estimated to be around 150,000 but the number fluctuates. the penguins select a mate, and often stay together for their lifetime. each couple digs its own burrow and will continue to use this “home” year after year. each year every couple lays two eggs which they take turns caring for them while the other goes to sea to get food. the chicks were all born in november so they are getting pretty big, but are still babies and cute and have their fluffy, baby-down-fur.
the only other wildlife on the island are sea birds which were also nesting and tending to their young, although they were much more protective of their chicks and would scream loudly (very loudly) if someone got too close to their nest.
…and now, lots of pictures,
with lots and lots of penguins
a penguin husband and penguin wife
babies!
us and them
and, the birds:
yesterday we left punta arenas, chile and headed back into argentina to ushuaia, as far south as you can go and still sleep in a bed at night. we arrived last night (or, this morning rather) at 1:30am. we were supposed to arrive at 7:30pm…. but that was not in the cards. thanks, ridiculously strong patagonian winds. it is like standing in the middle of a hurricane with a beautiful blue sky overhead.
last thing: as i write this, michael is next to me on another computer trying to skype with his family and getting VERY frustrated. i´ve heard him say, “hi, can you hear me?” literally 25 times. or maybe 35.
and just now, he just yelled, “SKYPÈ SUCKS! WHY WOULD OPRAH RELY ON THIS!!??”
that darn oprah. it´s all her fault.
one more last, last thing. my dad and his girlfriend linda just arrived in buenos aires yesterday so we are going to attempt to meet up with them at some point. of course, the fact that we have no idea where we are going next and when we´ll be where makes that difficult, but hopefully it will work out.
also, fun fact, right now we are closer to antartica than argentina´s northern border with bolivia.
