Dec 2007

We really enjoyed our afternoon visit to the penguin colony - which apparently is home to over 175,000 breeding pairs of Magellan penguins - the largest in Sud America. In peak season, over a million birds can be seen here. We went a bit daft with the digital camera and also took a few video's too.

Penguins coming back after a swim

Posing penguins

The beach at Punta Tombo

This shows a hungry chick being fed

Breeding season lasts a few weeks, so whilst some penguin chicks have been born (as above), some penguins are still incubating eggs and this shows a male penguin nest building (quite right too - Lb) (it has to be done properly you see- Ab)

This penguin got a few funny looks from passing penguins, carrying the huge stick in its mouth. We thought it may have found an alternative way of fishing

Penguins at play on the beach and in the sea

Guanaco that stood still long enough for a photo! These are becoming 2 a penny, we've seen them everywhere.

We caught an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn. It was very luxurious, with the seats turning into beds - better than BA business class pods. Lisa b slept most of the way (all 18 hours). Andrew was awake for a large part of the journey, content with observing the never changing landscape. Patagonia is a vast, low lying scrub land, with only the odd telegraph pole, guanaco or plastic bag to alter the scenery. Apparently Charles Darwin once commented that of all the landscapes in the world, Patagonia leaves an inprint in one's mind and we can understand where he was coming from.

Puerto Madryn is a pleasant little sea side town with sandy, seaweed strewn beaches; a perfect base for exploring the surrounding wildlife. We took a trip to Peninsula Valdes to see the local marine life, with Tito Botazzi, whose guide was very knowledgable about the animals and area. The only disappointment was the whale watching boat trip which was over populated with a bus load of tourists from Mendoza. For the majority of the time, when the whales appeared, they were on their side of the boat - so the well fed tourists obscured the best vantage points - fair enough. However, when finally the whales swam underneath the boat to make an appearance on our side, so did the Mendoza crew, totally blocking our opportunity to take photos! We quietly tutted and the Italian couple (next to us) displayed their dismay with much hand gesturing and loud latino groans. It was still a memorable experience, as we got to see a mum and her calf at quite close quarters.

There was the odd shot like this that captured the whale unobscured

But alas many more photo's were like this!

Elephant seal cubs having an argy bargy with one another

An armadillo after it had just been told "lisa don't share food"

Sealions in amongst some elephant seal cubs

We were expecting colder climes as we had travelled much further south, but we were blessed with hot, sunny days and even braved a dip in the (not too cold) atlantic ocean! Unfortunately, Lisa didn't manage to take any sneaky photo's of Andyb in his new trunks (boo).

Andyb beside the seaside