WorldTravelReynolds

We’ve arrived in the part of the world where there are almost as many penguins as people. It’s called Patagonia.

Puerto Madryn, Argentina, located within the Patagonia region is the gateway to the Peninsula Valdés, a UNESCO site and nature reserve for penguins, sea lions, elephant and fur seals, orcas, dolphins, 181 species of birds, and more. The city itself is one of the fastest growing in the area, although that said, most of what there is to see is outside of our port.

We headed out to see the penguins which is about a 2 hour drive south. During the drive she gave us some information about the penguins but first here’s your history lesson on Puerto Madryn.

Puerto Madryn itself is on the Golfo Nuevo, a smallish gulf that’s formed by the Peninsula Valdés and the Punta Ninfas. It was founded in 1865 by 150 Welsh immigrants who migrated to enable them to maintain their traditional values, culture, and language, all of which they felt was being threatened in their native Wales. To entice them here the area was promoted as having a climate and geography similar to their homeland so when they arrived and found a harsh, desert area they had to learn how and what to hunt from the natives, as well as ways to irrigate crops they wanted to raise.

The name Madryn had welsh roots and there are still towns in the area that have schools that teach in both Spanish and Welsh to keep the latter language alive. You may even see road signs written in both languages.

Puerto Madryn really began to develop and grow when the railway came in 1886 and now tourism has found a niche here as more and more people come to the uniqueness of Patagonia and especially the Peninsula Valdés. There are approximately 70,000 residents here and other than tourism and fishing it is home to the only aluminum plant in South America.

After being here for the day we learned it is called Windy City. They were 100% correct. the wind wasn’t too bad but with the cool air and the dust flying in your eyes it was a little much.

During the long drive we passed many wind farms. They have more than 62 turbine’s privately owned . We even saw a couple that had caught fire due to lightening strikes.

Our only stop here was to see the penguins. Punta Tombo Penguin Reserve, located in a secluded desert. Our tour guide estimated over 160,000 pairs of penguins not including the babies.

The coolest thing about this place is that you can walk among the penguins, getting up close but respecting their space by not touching them or their nests. There was a single wire fence that kept tourists from walking among them. What we expected and what we saw were totally different. I obviously didn’t do my research because I expected the penguins natural habitat to be wet, snow/icy and thousands of them grouped together. They were grouped in some areas but mostly moms were staying near their babies in burrows in the desert. This somewhat shocked us. Not that it was a terrible thing. I guess because in our minds we associate penguins with cold Antarctica weather. Who knew?!? They were still cute.

There are 17 different types of penguins. The ones we are here to see are the Magellanic penguins. They were named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. Adults have black backs and white abdomens. There are two black bands between the head and the breast, with the lower band shaped in an inverted horseshoe. The head is black with a broad white border that runs from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, and joins at the throat. Chicks are brown and furry and some were almost as big as their mama.

These penguins live up to 25 years and typically choose a mate for life. If one dies they will move on to another one.

The penguins fly here in September to begin mating and nesting season. They will stay until April. Interesting enough winter begins July 20th here. You would think they would want to be here during the coldest months.

We also came upon a herd of guanacos, a llama-like animal, that roam the preserves. They share the space with the penguins and all get along well.

At the end of our day we made anotnern2 hour trip back to the port. What a wonderful day! I loved the penguins!

Due to a bad weather situation around the Drake passage, by Antarctica, the captain is rearranging our schedule to go through a few days later and let the storms pass. This should be fun!

May God bless you always.

Chuck and Lea Ann