Long ago in the good old days before COVID-19 had cast a shadow of fear across the world...just 7 weeks ago....we were already practicing social distancing.
Our tour guides advised us to stay six feet away from penguins who, being curious and nearsighted, might wander up to us to learn what we might be. We'd followed the same directions in the Falkland Islands.
The Magellan Penguins that inhabit Magdalena Island put on a naturally entertaining show. One penguin in particular kept trying to close the gap with Julie as he followed her around.
Some tourists intentionally flaunted the 6 feet gap rule, getting closer to take selfies. Fortunately for them, none of the little penguins were man-eaters.
In addition to hundreds of penguins, there were countless seagulls and, of course, the dreaded skuas, which prey on the fuzzy baby penguins.
This time, we had arrived not by private van with only a guide plus Mike and Linda as in the Falkland Islands, but on a Princess-sponsored shore excursion aboard a ferry jam-packed with a total of 210 passengers. Not much social distancing in there.
Unfortunately, I found myself in about the worst seat possible for the ferry ride, facing aft at the furthest back table in an inside seat blocked on both sides by people who never got up.
Therefore, I didn't see the black and while dolphins playing in the ship's wake or the whales. I probably should have asked to get out, but by the time something of interest appeared, it seemed too late to get past my bench mates to see it.
We almost missed the boat over, incidentally, because a young man who spoke as if he had authority announced to everyone in the waiting rooms at the port that the 1:30 departure would be delayed due to rough seas that morning.
By that point, we had been sitting around in less than comfortable chairs for too long going stir crazy, having been disappointed by a walk around the town but not having time to tender back to the ship for lunch.
Julie and I went to see about finding some fast food, but the area near the port wasn't exactly teeming with fast food. We settled for a muffin at a gas station.
When we returned, we saw a crowd jostling for position and then Mike's big eyes and energetic waving hand. He quickly explained that announcer hadn't known what he was talking about. We at first thought he must work for a different ferry company, but he was among the crew herding us down the pier to board.
Earlier in the day, I had suggested going into Punta Arenas before our penguin excursion, and the others went along.
That was not my best idea, based on everyone's demeanor throughout the stroll.
We could have instead grabbed a taxi for a quick tour, which might have given us a better impression of Punta Arenas, but walking around, we were disappointed to see how beautiful architecture had been devalued by graffiti.
At the Monument of Ferdinand Magellan, whose explorations brought "civilization" to Tierra del Fuego, we found large dogs wandering around unattended in the lovely park.
Sunday mass was in process at the Cathedral that we found following our map. The outside didn't live up to the photos which must have been taken right after a remodel.
Of course, our visit to Punta Arenas was focused on our penguin excursion. We had actually booked that one as a backup to our Falkland Islands tour, at first because we couldn't find a penguin tour opening and then just in case weather didn't cooperate for getting ashore in Stanley, which can happen.
Having already been to a penguin colony, I had pushed for changing to something different.
Unfortunately, a great excursion to Torres del Paine National Park --- what Julie called the "real" Patagonia --- cost $1200 per person. Perhaps we should have sprung to do it for the extra $1000 above our penguin tour price.
When will we ever be that close to Patagonia again?
Any way you slice it, however, $1200 is a lot of money for an excursion when many 7-night cruises cost less than that.
I couldn't convince the others to do a lesser version hiking in the countryside of what the excursion description called Patagonia.
We had, after all, done something similar to that in Tierra del Fuego National Park in Ushuaia the day before.
 |
| A Vulnerable Baby Penguin Waits for a Parent to Return |
Another excursion I didn't sell them on was one based on Shackleton's Endurance Expedition, despite the fact that it cost about a third as much as the Magdalena Island penguin tour. It was hard to argue with the fact that we had probably learned about as much about Shackleton already as our brains were likely to retain.
Of course, we all enjoyed visiting the penguins.
I would recommend either staying on the ship or taking a guided tour in the morning rather than just wandering into town by following a map. That is actually pretty good advice in most sea ports, regardless of whether you have an afternoon excursion booked.
Julie's Other Photos In Chronological Order
 |
| Much-Reviled Skuas Wait Among Seagulls to Prey On Baby Penguins |
 |
| Baby Penguins In "Fuzzy Coats" Are Almost As Big As Adults |
 |
| Baby Penguins Inevitably Enter Awkward Stage of Molting |
Wes's Other Photos In Chronological Order
No comments:
Post a Comment