After two days of sailing from the Falklands we docked at Puerto Madryn Argentina, in the heart of coastal Patagonia. Puerto Madryn is an area of Argentina that was settled by Welsh immigrants in the 19th Century. Many town names are Welsh and we were told a Welsh dialect is still spoken along with Spanish, of course.
Our excursion to the penguin colony at Punta Tombo Wildlife Reserve was eight hours long. The coach ride was two hours one-way, the last 30-minutes or so by gravel road.
Punto Tombo is a nesting site for the Magellanic Penguins, a smaller penguin species that is found in more moderate climates (not the Antarctic). It is reported that this rookery is the home for up to one million penguins during the summer when they lay their eggs, incubate and hatch chicks. By March/April the chicks are mature and the colony migrates north, returning once again the Punta Tombo in the Fall.
Magellanic Penguins mate for life and always return to the same nest. The nests here are either shallow burrows in the sand or under thick bushes. The mating pairs separate during the northerly migration and when they return in the Fall, find each other by their unique calls. The juveniles have “fluffy” feathers.
The Punta Tombo reserve has boardwalks and roped off trails that go through the nesting area. The tour guides will stop everyone if a penguin is crossing the “people path”, we don’t want to disturb or agitate these little guys, after all, we are on their turf. You do get up close to these critters and they are quite adorable (but smelly). There were thousands of them, so we finally got to see more than enough penguins.
Caution…. Penguins Crossing!
Walking with penguins…..
Magellanic Penguins of Punta Tombo
Cruise is winding down…
After the Puerto Madryn visit we sail for two days then dock in Montevideo Uruguay for a one day port visit. After Montevideo, we cross the Rio de La Platte to Buenos Aires and our cruise will end there on February 10th. However, we will continue our stay in South America for another nine days visiting Mendoza Argentina, back to Montevideo and Buenos Aires before heading home on February 19th. We will post more from this trip, so stay tuned.
We spent several days cruising the southern tip of South America with port stops in Punta Arenas Chile, Ushuaia Argentina, and then sailing around Cape Horn to enter the South Atlantic.
Punta Arenas
We spent a day in Punta Arenas and we opted for the included walking tour of the town. The ship was alongside the main dock which is in the center of town and our walking tour started right from the dock. We had an excellent local guide.
It was a bit disheartening to see the damage, graffiti and vandalism to buildings and monuments from the recent riots and unrest. The highlight of the tour was the walk up to a hilltop vista point (steep sidewalks and lots of steps) which offered a great view of the town with Magellan Strait in the background.
Our terrific guide
Magellan Monument with “big foot” Patagonian’s.
Scenes from our walking tour of Punta Arenas.
Some Rock Cormorants along Punta Arenas waterfront.
A View of Viking Jupiter from the hilltop park.
Viking Jupiter
Punta Arenas scenic vista and harbor views.
Ushuaia, Argentina
An overnight sail from Punta Arenas brought us back out through the Magellan Strait, then into the Beagle Channel for an early morning arrival in Ushuaia Argentina on January 31st.
Ushuaia Argentina is the worlds southern most city and it is a main departure point for Antarctic expeditions. The city is located on Tierra el Fuego and is known as the “End of the World”. It has colorful buildings and is surrounded by snow covered mountains which provide a very scenic backdrop.
We had a brief bus tour around the city and we spent the afternoon walking around the small downtown and along the waterfront. We found the Hard Rock Cafe, I suppose it would be the southern most Hard Rock Cafe in the world. At the recommendation of our tour director David, we visited the Laguna Negra chocolate shop. According to David it is one of the best chocolate shops in South America. We ended up buying a kilo of assorted chocolates and definitely agree with our tour director.
The port is very busy and the dock where we tied up was full of the smaller Antarctic Expedition cruise ships. We left late in the afternoon for the overnight sail to Cape Horn.
A scene out of the 19th Century
Scenic Ushuaia Argentina
Laguna Negra Chocolate Shop
Who knew they ha a Hard Rock Cafe.
Film crew interviewing Antarctic cruise tourists
Gulls basking in the sun.
This guy posed for me.
Afternoon walk around Ushuaia.
Our ship Viking Jupiter
Antarctic Expedition ships lined up along the pier.
Ushuaia is a busy cruise port.
Rounding Cape Horn
We arrive at Cape Horn at around 8am on February 1st. Cape Horn is actually an island so after viewing the actual southern most point with the famous Cape Horn lighthouse, we sailed around the island and then headed northeast for our next destination, Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. As we sailed around Cape Horn, there were other smaller cruise ships sailing around the area. As we entered the Atlantic Ocean the winds and the seas picked up a bit so it was a bit rough for much of the day and overnight sail towards the Falklands.
Cape Horn Lighthouse
Cape Horn, the southern most tip of of the Americas.
Falkland Islands
We were looking forward to the visit to the Falklands. There were quite a few interesting shore excursions available and we chose two excursions that involved scenic drives and visits to penguin areas.
During the port briefing the night before our arrival we were told there was a possibility that high winds would prevent tender boat operations, thus cancelling the Falkland shore visits. The final decision would be made in the morning when we anchored, when the Captain could assess the conditions and forecasts.
In the morning, it appeared that the winds were favorable, so we were all at our departure assembly points waiting for our turn to board the tenders. The early tour groups actually got ashore but then the winds started picking up an the forecast was not good. The Captain decided to cancel all shore tours and recalled all who already made it ashore. Needless to say, there was a lot of disappointed passengers, but we totally respect the Captains decision. If several hundred passengers were ashore and could not be returned to the ship the whole remain cruise itinerary could have been jeopardized. In addition Port Stanley does not have hotel accommodations to handle that many people and they would have been housed in local school gyms or auditoriums.
So we left the Falklands for the two day sail to Puerto Madryn Argentina where we hope to see penguins.
Sea birds following us to the Falklands. I believe these are Petrels or maybe Albatross
Our only view of Port Stanley.
Last tender returning to the ship.
Falkland Islands, never made it ashore.
Image with my 140mm lens.
Enlarged version of photo on the left. Oh look! Penguins.
Our only view of Falkland Penguins as we sailed out of Stanley Harbor.
It is the half way point of our South American Cruise. Nine more days to go as the sunsets on the first half of our voyage.
Rick and Kathie's Travel Adventures 