February 18, 2025
We were in the port of Punta Madryn, Argentina from February 7th thru the 9th. On the 8th, we rented a car to drive down to TOMBO NATIONAL RESERVE about 2 hours south of the port, and the first time I have driven a manual car or any car, since this journey began for me September 30th, 2024. The drive was fine, but the roads boring as it was mainly through arid desert areas and the roads through the park are not paved, just loose stones, so noisy, dusty and loud. Once we got to the long narrow peninsula it is Penguins galore! There is a vast colony of Magellanic penguins here along with other wildlife - hares, foxes, snakes, guanaco & gulls. Below is the growth chart for a typical Magellanic. The babies were just born back in November, so we saw many that were just
3 months old. We spent a couple of hours watching the penguins play, bathe, waddle, sleep and just have fun! It was a very windy day but refreshing to stroll the trails and boardwalks, weaving across all the burrows and small shrubs that hide penguins nests.