From Edinburgh to Trelew

My first obsession was not a girl, or a boy for that matter, it was the penguins at Edinburgh zoo. It was the treat of the year to go see them walk around the zoo. I couldn't wait for the next visit.

For 35 years that followed, I still thought you could only see penguins in a zoo or the antarctic, but then in 2002 I visited Trelew half way up or half way down the Argentinian coast. Not just a few stray penguins, but half a million of them. Woah!

I have over time tried to pass on my enthusiasm for penguins, and so on our world tour I planned this stop in Trelew, where the penguins are about an hour away at Punto Tombo. All the bucket list people in the South headed for Bariloche, but not us, penguins are more important.

Times change here too, back then no visitor centre, no visitor path, no entrance fee, no rules, but I have to say the nature reserve is nicely implemented. (It's a Unesco world heritage site since 2015).

One thing that makes penguins unique is they don't give a shit about the humans in their habitat. They don't run away, they don't hide, and so you can see them at home, wonderful.

I shall have to wait to see if the kids enthusiasm today lasts like mine, maybe not. In Scotland the penguins didn't have much competition, but the kids have been in so many places by comparison. (At Oscar's age I had never even left Scotland)Read more