Kyle Berg

As fun as it is to see whales or sea lions, many people, myself included, leave the Puerto Madryn area especially enamored with the Magellanic penguin.  The largest mainland gathering of these little guys is at Punta Tombo, about 200 km south of Puerto Madryn. Seeing them last year was a treat and I had to go again.

Last year I split a cab to Punta Tombo with Coral and Jackie. It was great because our driver Enrique allowed us to stop and take pictures along the way and we were free to stay at Punta Tombo as long as we liked. This time around I elected to go with a group tour that also included dolphin watching in Rawson. During the two and a half hour trip there, I chatted in Spanish with our tour guide and met an American couple from San Francisco. Despite meeting these nice people, I found myself wishing I had sought out another mode of transportation. We were allowed only an hour and half to walk to the beach, see the penguins, and walk back. My how the time flew!

It seemed much different than the previous year and I believe they had redesigned a few of the paths and marked more places off limits. Despite the frustration of such limited time, I still enjoyed being at Punta Tombo and watching those clumsy 30cm, 5 kilo birds. Going in December also allowed us to see the darling baby penguins and their fluffy gray fur.