Today was a very big day for thetwinsontour! We got to walk amongst penguins! I know you are probably saying big deal, isn’t that why you are going to Antarctica? Why yes it is. But these are different penguins! Besides can you ever have enough penguin time? The answer to that is a resounding NO! Or in Spanish NO! Or in German NEIN! Or in Russian NYET! Take all of the penguin possibilities. Always!

The instructions said to dress warmly so we decided that meant our fleece lined Eddie Bauer pants. Let me tell you, fleece lined pants are my new favorite thing in the whole wide world! They are absolutely amazing and I never want to take them off. They are so soft and warm. It’s like wrapping up in a warm hug. I could talk about these pants forever, but I shall proceed.

This tour was so important to us that we booked it several months in advance because we were worried about it selling out (which it was). The tour started with a boat ride through the Beagle Channel (named after Charles Darwin’s boat, the Beagle). It was nice because we got to see some bonus wildlife. We saw a whole island full of Imperial Cormorants which are often confused with penguins because of their black and white coloring. They stand up tall exactly like penguins, but swim like ducks, and they can fly.

We also saw several islands full of sunbathing South American Sea Lions. It looked like there were several different colors of sea lions, but they are really all the same color. It’s just that some were wet and some were dry. Anyways, what an amazing sight to see so many piled atop each other where they belong instead of performing tricks at Sea World.

Then after lunch, it was time for PENGUINS!!! We boarded a zodiac and headed to Isla Martillo (or Hammer Island). It was glorious, the Magellanic Penguins were just waiting on the beach to greet us. Magellanic Penguins nest in burrows on the ground, so lots of them were laying on their nests and eggs. The guide pointed out a baby penguin hidden in a nest, but I can neither confirm or deny that because it was difficult to see. Magellanic penguins are all black and white with a black stripe across the top of their chests.

And guess what was also lounging on the beach. A lost, lone King Penguin! Yes we got to see a bonus Penguin Species. So EXCITING! You know how thetwinsontour love free stuff, and seeing this extra penguin was definitely a bonus. The guide said that there were 2 of them there a couple of weeks ago, but now there is just the one. Most of the King Penguins live on St George island a long, long, long ways away. So we got 3 penguin species for the price of 2, or as we like to refer to it, Bo2go.

We also saw a small colony of Gentoo penguins (perhaps the only Gentoos in South America?). They are bigger than the Magellanic penguins and they have an orange beak and yellow feet. They all nest together in a rookery. The males build nests out of rocks to attract the females. Sometimes they steal nice rocks from other nests (bad penguins). And they poop a lot. We didn’t witness that, but sometimes they will just poop all over their neighbors, especially if their nests are super close together.

Speaking of penguins and poop, I don’t think it smelled bad at all. Maybe the wind just blew all of the penguin smells away. After our experiences with zoo penguin exhibits, I expected an odor, but there was nothing.

We only got to walk amongst the penguins for like an hour, so our time was done way too soon. You can never have enough penguin time!

The tour ended with a tour of a whale museum where people come to study whales that have died and washed up on shore. It was fascinating, and I wish that I could have paid more attention. I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Needless to say, the bus ride back to town passed by quickly in a sleepy haze.

In Argentina, they typically eat dinner very late just like in Spain. So at 8:30pm we met our Girls Love Travel group that we are going to Antarctica with. Thank goodness we had some leftover empanadas from yesterday to tide us over until then. I mean 8:30 is nearly my bedtime, not dinnertime. There are 42 of us plus 3 boyfriends in the GLT group, so we will be nearly half the ship (max passengers 116-123).

Tomorrow we board the ship!

Love,

thetwinsontour

PS At one point during the Beagle Channel Argentina and Chile are less than a kilometer apart. We were so close to Chile that my phone sent me a welcome to Chile text! So close, but so far away. So distressing!