Penguins in Punta Arenas

We docked in Punta Arenas this morning and decided to venture out and find some Internet. We got into town and found a cafe with high speed wifi, it was so weird being able to check emails!

We originally booked a penguin tour in Port Stanley but since we didn’t make it there we booked another in Punta Arenas. We met our tour bus at 3pm and drove 10 minutes down the road to meet a ferry. Unfortunately the ferry ride was 2 hours each way which we didn’t realise when we booked the tour. It was crammed with people and really uncomfortable.

So after 2 hours we arrived at Magdalena Island which is a small island populated by penguins and sea gulls. The island is a natural habitat and this is the only time we have ever seen penguins in the wild and maybe the only time. The island is now a national park and protected by rangers in attempt to preserve it for as long as possible. A pathway has been sectioned off for tourists but you are not allowed to touch the penguins or get too close.

There were over 100,000 of them, waddling around and making quite a racket, these particular penguins are called Magellan penguins but are nicknamed donkey penguins as the sound they make resembles a donkey!

We walked around for about an hour taking photos, they were very cute and not shy at all; one waddled onto the pathway right in front of us to cross to the other side. The ferry then returned to pick us up and take us back to Punta Arenas. About 10 minutes before we arrived on land the boat was surrounded by dolphins, jumping out of the water and playing in the wake. We got back to the cruise ship about 9pm and I was really cold and tired so we went to bed.