Today I went on a very nice tour to the Natural Monument of Penguins on Isla Magdalena to see the Magellanic Penguins.
My 10 minute walk to the meeting point took 30 minutes because I went the wrong way a couple of times but I got there in time to check-in and board the boat. Note to self- allow extra, extra time when walking and don’t believe all the times shown on the mapping apps.
It was an hour and a half boat ride on a very nice boat to the island and we had a strict time limit of an hour on the island. There were plenty of empty seats on the boat so I got a table and window to myself. I’m guessing we had about 30 people and the boat held 80 or more.
Saw a whale blow off in the distance and crew said it was a sei whale as other whales are not typically in that area. Also saw either seal or sea lion. I was in the bathroom towards the end of the trip and when I came out, everyone was looking out the window and just putting their cameras away. I’m guessing they saw a southern dolphin since the crew were excited and said they don’t see them very often.
We had lovely weather and I enjoyed watching and listening to the penguins. By the end of March all the penguins will have migrated off the island.
Interesting fact- when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan came thru this area in 1520, there were penguins on island. The penguins have been here over 300 years.
When we arrived at the island, the penguins were right on shore and had to walk away so we could land. That’s when I discovered that my camera battery was in the red and I forgot to bring a spare battery. So very happy my battery lasted until we were leaving the island.
It was pretty funny to see the penguins disappear into their burrows.
