One of the coolest things we've done so far is a drive down to Punta Tombo, the second largest penguin colony in the world (other than in Antarctica). We met a couple (Carrie and Hugh) on the bus to Puerto Madryn a few days prior, and ended hanging out with them a lot the next few days. They were very cool, and had been living in Buenos Aires for a few years. It was fortuitous running into them because they had similar sightseeing plans, and they are fluent in Spanish. We split the cost of a car rental, and took the little VW Golf on the 90 minute drive from Puerto Madryn south to Punta Tombo.
The colony is home to thousands of Magellanic penguins. You follow a path right through their hilly nest sites. Penguins are walking all over the place (yield to all penguins and keep your distance!) and standing guard over their nests, little burrows under the Patagonian bushes, where the babies and juveniles are concealed. I think the baby penguins had mostly hatched 2 or 3 months earlier. The path leads to a beach where they hang out and go fishing. There is a rocky outcropping where you can look at them from above, waddling in and out of the ocean, and zipping around underwater as if they are flying.
The whole experience was very cool, and I'm glad we got a chance to do it. On the drive back, we even spotted a Rhea from the car. It is a large flightless bird like an ostrich.
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