Toni and Janie's Blog

12th posting on Jan. 15, 2014 ..... Back to the welcome page and listings for other links

Off to Ottway Bay outside of Punta Arenas this am to one of the Magellan Penguin rookeries. Try riding in back of a bus on dirt road for 1 1/2 hrs. Think my 2 kidneys have broken into about 25-30 pieces!! Toni went on different tour---NOT the big boat I thought but much smaller one (only held 15 people) they called "the yellow submarine"-- a 45 min speedboat ride to Magdelena island where there were about 100,00 penguins plus a zillion gulls.
The trip I went on was to a small rookery with a small population of about 10,000 penguins. They come in Sept. Lay 1-2 eggs in burrows. Incubation is about 40 days. Babies are ready for survival boot camp in February & everyone splits in March until the next year. This area is popular for penguins because of 20-21 hrs of daylite in summer & they feel safe. Their burrows/nests are only about 20 yds from ocean so it's easy for parents to give swim lessons. Greatest land danger for babies is from foxes and seagulls and sea lions in the water. Rookery is protected so we can't go up to the penguins and say hi. But Toni's penguins were right next to her and watched like little puppies. And NO she didn't touch them.
The land on the way to my rookery was flat grassy (pampas) with tons of sheep & cattle estancias (ranches). Sending a pic of a Groucho doing his thing. Extremely windy & wild out here & hard to hold iPad still for pics. Saw Andean Condors today having lunch on an unfortunate sheep. Condors evidently eat so much that they can't fly for an hour or two. (Sounds like some people on the ship!)
Toni was so glad to be back on shore---it was so rough & windy (50 mph) that the guide was fearful of safety & boat came back early....Toni thought the damn thing was going to flip!! After all they WERE in the straights of Magellan. Water was going over the bow & some of it came down thru the hatch. The boat was only 40 feet long & Toni said it felt like it was a foot wide.

At least it didn't rain or snow today.

Today is our last day in Chile---tomorrow is Argentina--Ushuaia. Adios mis amigos y amigas! We may be out of touch for a few days sailing to Antarctic archipelago.......

Our email address is janie8500@gmail.com. Feel free to drop a note and say hello anytime!