The Travel Chica

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A Million Penguins… And I Took a Photo of Each One!

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I have to be honest and admit that I was sad to leave behind my life in Buenos Aires.   I got sucked in again, but this time it was more about the people.  I also wondered if I would have trouble adjusting to the hostel life again.

I hoped seeing some penguins in their natural habitat would cheer me up.

Well, it did.

In fact, the entire day I spent on a tour to Punta Tombo and Isla Escondida was incredible.

I talked to multiple tour agencies, and I chose Categoría Patagonia. 

Martin, the travel agent I worked with was very personable and helpful.  Also, this was a special combination tour they do not do every day to include Isla Escondida (you’ll see why this place is special in my next post).

An early and ashy start.

We left at 7:20 (a bit of an adjustment from my previous Porteno lifestyle).  I was wondering why the sky was so gray.  Apparently, the ash cloud had arrived again.
However, our wonderful guide Hernan kept us entertained with information.  We learned all about the Province of Chubut and the towns of Puerto Madryn and Trelew and the wildlife we were about to see.

I enjoyed the landscape during our drive.

It is empty and dry. And the sky is so blue.

Penguins at Punta Tombo

Hernan explained that there are 1,200,000 penguins at Punta Tomba.

That is A LOT!!

They arrive in September for their reproduction cycle.  They lay 2 eggs.  Cute little baby penguins hatch.  The babies gain enough strength for the journey to Brazil in April where they live in the water.

And the cycle continues.

I took several hundred photos of the penguins.  (Yes, I know that is ridiculous.)  I forced myself to narrow it down to my 6 favorite photos for this post.

Photo of penguins on the beach

Photo of two penguins

Photo of waddling penguin

I was lucky to be here during the egg-sitting and hatching period.  (Yes, I think those are the technical terms.)

Photo of penguin eggs

Photo of baby penguin

According to Hernan, this area used to be less protected, and people could just roam around the area.  Sometimes they disoriented and upset the penguins.  Sometimes they even broke eggs.  Now, the tourists walk on a special path built to protect the penguins and their eggs.

If one crosses your path on its way to the water for food, you stop and wait for it to cross and try to stay at least a meter away so as not to distract it from eating.

Photo of penguin crossing

Don’t Touch the Penguins!

There are signs posted everywhere that you are not to touch the penguins.  Of course, I saw some idiot reach down and touch one (a man in his 50s who definitely spoke Spanish and was capable of reading).  Luckily, my Spanish is now good enough that I feel confident chastising people for being idiots.

And just so you don’t think penguins are the cutest things ever….

Photo of penguin poo

Yep, that’s penguin poo!

 

Have you ever seen penguins before?  Did it turn you into an excited kid again?

 

Travel Tip:  During my research, I found that prices for tours are very similar across the travel agencies in Puerto Madryn.  I liked the personal attention I got from Categoría Patagonia, and they are the only agency I talked to that offered the additional excursion to Isla Escondida, which you will read about in my next post.  Read about the excursions they offer, as well as additional tourism services they provide on their website.

Comments

  3. Like Andrea in her comment above I went to see the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island about 90 minutes drive from Melbourne when I was really little and fell in love with the penguins way back then. They do a similar thing at Phillip Island except they seem to do it at night from sunset onwards over here as opposed to doing it during the day like they do in your post.

    What hardly anybody knows is that Melbourne actually has a small colony of penguins in Port Phillip Bay that use the breakwater off the inner city St Kilda pier as shelter. I stumbled across them in 2002 when I was walking along the breakwater there just admiring the sunset and evening. There is only about 16 of them and there is a barrier to protect them now so you can’t physically get up close to them anymore.

    Earl from the blog Wandering Earl was recently in South Africa and put up a post about the penguins there too. It’s really interesting to see that in the countries where penguins live, breed and travel through like Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa, each has it’s own unique species, sizes, colouring and behaviors that make them unique to the countries they are living in.

    I really love penguins. They are a bellweather for the oceans. If they are plentiful in an area it says that the health of the oceans in that area is quite good and able to support a lot of species.

      • The big penguins from Antarctica are called Emperor Penguins. A few months back one washed up on a beach in the south island of New Zealand after wandering astray. Somebody found him and called some zoologists who nursed him back to health and named him Happy Feet. Happy Feet made news the world over and was released a couple of months ago with a tracker on him. Last thing I heard he was swimming back to Antarctica. The adults like Happy Feet reach at least 3 feet or one metre tall and weigh as much as a big dog.

  4. It’s real life Club Penguin! Those are some of the cutest little animals I’ve seen in a long time. I’m surprised that people are allowed to roam that close to them.
    Love the pictures you chose. Well, maybe not the penguin poo one. Not sure I needed to see that. :)
    Steve recently posted..Best of 2011 – Best Hotel

  9. My kids are obsessed with penguins too and we would love to see them someplace like this rather than at the zoo. What an amazing experience! I totally get snapping hundreds of pictures – I would have done the same thing!
    Lisa recently posted..HAPPY HOLIDAYS

  13. Excellent pictures, sometimes it is so difficult to resist the click. I must have ended with several hundred photographs myself. Nice to see the cute baby penguin too. I have never seen a penguin, can’t imagine what it would be like to see 1 Million+ penguins. Surely it will make anyone’s Inner Kid happy.
    Uttoran Sen recently posted..11 Places To Visit In Fiji

  21. I’m so glad you posted this: penguins are in my immediate future–headed for Antarctica in 1 week! Going to be in BA for 2 nites with my two 20-something sons–(Argenta Tower on Juncal St.) Do you have any suggestions where we ought to spend an evening somewhere not too far from there?
    50+ and on the Run recently posted..What’s Lower Than Misdemeanor?

  22. Penguins are awesome! Great photos. My favorite is the one with the Penguin walking pas the goats. Are they goats?

    I’ve seen penguins at Penguin Island before, which was pretty cool. It wasn’t that good of an experience though. Most of the penguins there are hiding. I think that most of them are harassed by people.

    A shame really.
    Cal recently posted..With the Whale Sharks – New Video!

  24. I have never seen penguins in real. And I haven’t seen poo of penguins even in pictures or videos. Thanks a lot for showing me the poo of penguins. I guess my friends would also have not seen the poo of penguins so I will surprise them with it. I hope they like it haha.
    I liked all the pics especially the pic of a mother penguin with her baby.

  32. Hi! I just found your website not long ago – what a fantastic journey! Did you see any baby penguins?

    I was in Punta Tombo in September, shortly after the penguins started arriving. They were hundreds! It was just the males preparing their nests (well, standing in them, anyway) though there were already two couples! Our guide explained that when the females come, they look at the nest – if they like it they stay, otherwise they go looking for another guy. The penguins are definitely among my favorite animals (though I did see a penguin pee/poop on another penguin – not very polite….). Keep having fun!!
    All Colores recently posted..End of the World Photos for the End of the Year

  33. I did the same exact thing both times I visited penguin colonies. This was a while ago so no digital cameras. I spent a ton of money developing rolls of film.

    I visited Isla Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan the first time and Punta Tombo the second. I could watch penguins all day, they’re hilarious tripping and falling all over each other.

    Thanks for the reminder of how funny they are.
    Jared Romey recently posted..Comment on The Harshest Argentine Insult by angeldedesierto

  34. Love the penguins pictures!!! :-) Just the other day I was fascinated seeing a group of lovely ducklings swim. I can’t even imagine being surrounded by penguins. I would be an excited kid again!!
    Natalia recently posted..Trip of the Day

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