Penguins

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Today, I got to cross off another experience from my bucket list. We joined a small group of Germans on a 2 hour drive south of our hotel to visit a penguin colony. It was a great breeding season so there were about 1 million birds there. We must have seen about half of them. They were on, in and under everything.

We drove along a straight road across a low shrub plain. Not much rain falls here, only about 200ml/year. Along the way, our eagle-eyed driver stopped to point out local wildlife. Among the menagerie were half rabbit/half dog creatures, amarillos, long-legged half camel/half llama beasts with split lips and various birds of prey.

The first penguin we encountered were the losers. They did not reproduce this year. They were about 3 km the sea. They were unsuccessful in fights for the prime real estate so females were not interested in that sort of commute. The penguin chicks are about 3 months old now and have just been given the boot from the nest. They have found their way to the sea and are now trying to build up the courage to go in the water. Hunger will get the better of them and they will eventually take the plunge. The parents were monthslting and there were fluffy feathers everywhere. With the 80kph+ constant wind, they didn't accumulate for very long. Others were hiding in the bushes making trumpet noises, huddled under the foot bridges to keep cool, or just laying about watching the tourists.

We had a simple lunch on-site and climbed back on the van for the ride home. Back in Puerto Madryn, we hit the bank to replenish our pesos. Most of our cash goes to buying bottles of water to stave off dehydration. Man, it is hot! On the way to the bank, Claudette tripped over a depression in the sidewalk and hurt her knee. She is walking with a limp. Hopefully it will cure overnight.

Due to this injury, we opted for supper at the hotel again. Again, fine service, good food at a reasonable price. We could hear children playing outside at 10pm. I must look into this siesta culture further. Maybe our youngest grandson should move here since he never wants to go to bed.

Sorry that there are no pictures as they were accidentally deleted transferring from my camera to the Spanish computer.

Night all.

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