Departamento de Florentino Ameghino

To make up for missing the Falkland Islands, we are overnighting in Puerto Madryn in Northern Patagonia. Unlike the southern part of the region, it's relatively flat here and very dry, almost desert like.

The big attraction here is the wildlife. There are places where you can see sea lions, elephant seals, and PENGUINS!!! Lots and lots of 🐧 🐧 🐧.

As soon as we got off the ship, we located a tour to transport us the 183 kilometers to Punta Tombo, a penguin reserve south of the city.

There were a few hiccups along the way, but in the end, Brenda and I couldn't be happier with our experience.

Ok, let's talk about penguins. A flightless bird that looks uncomfortable on land but swims like a fish. WTF? Who thought that up?

We learned a lot about these adorable little creatures during our brief time amongst them. There are several varieties of penguins, and Punta Tombo is the breeding ground and summer home to the warmer-weather Magellanic variety. Eggs hatch in November, and the down-covered chicks must lose their feathers and grow large enough to migrate north by March. This is a relatively small penguin, weighing only 70 grams as a hatchling and up to four kilograms when fully grown.

We discovered that these birds are very adept at digging. They burrow into the dry ground to make their nests. Everywhere we looked, in the open, under bushes and next to boulders, their holes were everywhere. Some were empty, and others had birds taking naps.

Another strange thing is the way they tend to act like little statues. As we looked across the land on our way to the beach, hundreds of penguins, standing completely still, dotted the ground. Some even appeared to be dozing.

Of course, we saw a lot of penguins as we walked the path to the beach, but nothing prepared us for the number of birds we saw in or near the surf. Thousands of penguins were either sunning themselves on the sand or frollicking in the waves. It was an incredible sight.

Getting up close and personal with these strange but adorable creatures and watching them interact was an experience we'll never forget. One can't help laughing as they nonchalantly waddle along on their way to their destination. They appear to have no fear of humans, yet they are also entirely unaggressive.

We humans could learn a lot from them.Read more