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Published: March 15th 2011
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Tuesday 1st Feb 2011
Puerto Madryn, Argentina
Punta Tomba Provencial Reserve
Soooooooo excited about this trip !!! Time to visit the penguins... we had no idea what to expect, only that we had to drive two and a half hours to the penguin colony. This we did not mind as it took us through the Patagonian country side where we saw herds of guanacos (they look like lamas), hares, rheas (ostrich like), gulls and other species of birds. We were surprised to observe that the landscape was arid and vast.
Puerto Madryn is in the Patagonian province of Chubut, and is one of Argentina’s fastest growing cities with a population of about 50,000 people. It is a popular resort for holidays and excellent scuba diving. The town is a gateway for the Peninsula Valdes being a wildlife sanctuary for the above mentioned animals and oystercatchers, flamingos, egrets, whales, sea elephants, sea lions, Magellanic penguins and many more species of wildlife.
It was a long but lovely drive to the penguin reserve. When we got there we saw that we were at the coast of course, but were very surprised to see where the penguins lived!! We expected snow and ice
and rocks. These penguins made nests here under bushes, small burrows. They were not afraid of people and made nests right next to the board walks and merrily went about their business despite all the touristy eyes peering at them. The reserve was well policed, stones marking the boundary of pedestrian walking areas, and if you stepped over them the rangers would send you out the reserve. This was so to protect the penguins and their nests. We hurried to the start of the path, eager to spot our first penguin thinking they would be well hidden!! We walked about two yards and were graced with our first glimpse. Like all those who had trekked passed it we clicked away with our cameras, not knowing if we would get such a great close up (6in away) shot again !! Well our guide assured us we would. We reluctantly moved away from this delight and walked on. We were only given 45 mins to view them, so no time wasting today.
When we turned the corner we could not believe our eyes........ Thousands of amazing little Magellan penguins littered the landscape for as far and wide as the eye could see.
Absolute heaven, gob smacked!! and emotional. Never in all our dreams had we imagined it would be this way. I wanted to live there!!! Their calls to each other were music to our ears. Words can't really explain the site and we are not sure if the photos will do them justice. Magical, unforgettable and gratitude are just some of the words and feelings that come to mind.
We wandered along the boardwalk soaking up every site our eyes saw. Penguins sleeping, talking, fighting, playing, loving and waddling to and from the shoreline for feeding. Our guide explained that they are just like us in that they all have different personalities and habits and preferences for places to live, a working city she described it as.
Reluctantly we dragged ourselves back onto our bus, enjoyed a lovely packed lunch and drove towards our next stop to experience a Welsh tea. We could not help but wish that we could miss the scones and stay with the penguins!!!
Many years ago Welsh settlers first arrived here and now 80,000 lived in valley and are still very staunch in remembering their heritage and traditions and encouraging tourists to visit Gaiman Village and
experience a Welsh tea. After about 30 mins driving towards the village a call came from the ship for us to do a u-turn to get back asap as extremely high winds had whipped up and if the ship did not leave the port it would be stuck there for awhile. The Welsh tea was off and we rushed back to a scary site of our ship struggling to stay docked as the wind was pushing it away. Tugs were pushing the boat into the harbour side. Apparently for several hours now the captain had tried to get us all back earlier than expected by sounding the hooter over the town and sending staff out into the town to round people up. It was all a little scary but thrilling. We were to be the last passengers back on but they had one missing, he came back 5.15, the time we were originally told to get back. So the boat after all that effort had to wait after all to leave. The captain said it was his scariest moment ever!!! The crew could not untie the ropes and had to cut them, expensive decision as they cost 10,000 euro’s each.
All was well though as we set sail and found calmer water..... phew!!
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