Click on the picture of the penguin to the left to have him/her (I have no real way of telling) introduce this blog. If all the technology works out correctly, a video should pop up. If you have issues with the video, just look at the penguin and imagine him walking.
Anyway, we decided to head north to warm up a little. I know that sounds strange for any Minnesotans out there that head south to warm up, but that is the way it works in the southern hemisphere. A 20 hour bus ride took us from El Calafate to Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Puerto Madryn is on the east coast of Argentina, about about an 18 hour bus ride south of Buenos Aires. Due to the size and many unpaved roads of Argentina, we now gauge distances in terms of bus ride times. Argentina is a very developed country, so why are only 30% of their roads paved?
Puerto Madryn is a nice oceanfront city with beaches, good food, and plenty to do if you are into marine wildlife. The first day there, we walked out to the fishing pier to get a good look at the city and much to our surprise, there were 2 Southern Right Whales within 20 feet of the pier. These whales are up to 50 feet long and weigh up to 55 tons. There they were, right by the pier! We rented a car and drove around Peninsula Valdez to see more wildlife and take a boat tour to get even closer to the whales. We got so close that Noah got wet when a whale that was right by our boat blew water out of one of his two blowholes. We could have reached over the side of our boat and touched one of these creatures!
Next up were the Elephant Seals, also found on Peninsula Valdez. They don't move very much, but were very interesting to see and learn about. Without getting into too much detail, the alpha males are polygamists who have harems in the 15 to 20 range. In many of the pictures, you will see one very large elephant seal (the alpha male) and many midsize females, and one pup (smaller black elephant seal) by each mother. We were fortunate to see what happens when an "alpha male wannabe" tries to move into an alpha males harem. Let's just say the alpha male sent the wannabe back out to sea very quickly. To view a video of the penguins, click on the following link ==> Puerto Madryn Penguin Video.
The Magellan Penguins on the other hand are monogamists. We saw plenty of these penguins on a trip south of Puerto Madryn to visit the penguin colony of Punta Tombo. There is no real way to describe this "colony" other than to say that there are 175,000 pairs of penguins in this colony. Yes, for you math majors out there, that would be 350,000 penguins! Never having seen a penguin in person, this colony was quite different than my previous conception of penguins. These penguins are small (about knee high to me), live in pairs (1 husband and 1 wife) and build their homes in dugout holes below tumble weeds in the Argentine desert. Take a look at the pictures, it is quite a site to see.To view pictures from our Puerto Madryn slide show, click on the following link ==> Puerto Madryn, Argentina Slide Show.
2 comments:
So glad to hear you are safe, enjoying your FABULOUS trip and WARM. Everything is so beautiful and I am learning so much. 'Love the penguin holes - what a picture. And the whales are very impressive. See if you can find someone who has an underwater microphone to hear the whale's song. Breath-taking. :-) Love, sister / aunt kris
How did you manage to pack for all of the weather extremes you are going to see? I never see more than a backpack and one rolling carry on size bag! The pictures are a blast. Who thought penguins would live in dirt holes? Kind of reminds me of prairie dogs!
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