Here we are!! In the southernmost city of the American continent (Ushuaia being on an island). We lost 25 degrees in 3 hours (and Julia lost about 2 liters of water from the turbulences). After a short taxi ride, we settle in our new home. An old “cosy” shack. It’s definitely not the same standards as our duplex in Santiago, but it’ll be fine for the next 2 nights.
For the first time since the beginning of our trip, we have no plans and no reservations ahead. We just came here to head North, hike in a beautiful park and see one of the biggest glaciers in the world. But in the meantime, we’ll improvise. This new feeling is great!!
So, after a short night sleep (there was a tree branch hitting on our rooftop the entire night because of the wind) we go take a walk in the city. We head to the coast to admire the boats and the Cormorans. They really look like penguins here and it makes us all want to go see the real ones. We know there are boat rides to penguin islands around. So the decision is unanimous: tomorrow we’ll go see the penguins of the island of Magdalena. We book a tour at a travel agency and continue our walk where the wind takes us (quite literally though, we’re almost taking off everytime the wind blows).
We go to a nice viewpoint, we visit an old house, a cemetery and a museum. The museum is really interesting. There are stuffed animals of Patagonia’s endemic species, stories and artefacts of indigenous populations, and explanations of their encounter with the first European settlers and the origins of the city.
Magdalena Island
Today we’re off to the penguins!! We’re super excited. During our boat ride to the island, our guide explains everything we need to know about penguins so we can become National Geographic experts. He also tells us the rules to follow once on the island: we can’t feed the penguins, nor take pictures with flash… pretty much the same rules as with the Gremlins. 😁 Joke aside, it’s important we stay 2 meters away from them, even if they approach us, and we have to be careful to leave the island in a pristine condition. The island is their natural habitat and we have to be discreet visitors.
As we approach the island, our excitement grows bigger (so is the grin on our faces) and from afar, we can already see black and white spots waddling around. All three of us are thrilled to set foot on the island. Here, there’s nothing but these little birds waddling awkwardly, cleaning themselves, plucking their feathers, sunbathing and “singing”. “Can we bring one back to France mom?” – “No Côme, it’s too hot in our house.” – “Even in the fridge?!”. Alright, the fridge part is not true, but we definitely would have liked to bring one back. 😊
There are not that many penguins on the island because it’s the end of the mating season and most have gone back to the water. But we feel very lucky and happy to be here and the hour we spend walking around (on a set path) passes by really fast (especially since we love to watch them walk and they are definitely not the fastest bunch…). When it’s time to leave the island, it’s hard for us to say goodbye. We would have stayed here for hours. But we do have to leave and we say goodbye to our awkward friends. They say goodbye as well, singing, or rather bawling (it’s definitely not the most melodious tune…).
On the way back, we are extremely lucky: our boat comes across seals, sea lions and dolphins having fun jumping the waves from the boat. We are all hoping to see a whale, but none comes. Oh well!!! It’s really a wonderful day today! 😊
Once we’ve back in town, we take the bus to our next destination, 3 hours away: Puerto Natales. On the way there we take turns reading Côme Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. The scenery is worthy of the end of the world. There are only steppes, a few llamas, a few sheep and the rare trees we come across are all leaning on one side because of the wind. There will be nothing else but one single village in the middle of nowhere. It’s a shame we’re not driving ourselves there. Doo would have loved to stop by and explore…
These past couple of days, Côme:
Did not understand: why the penguins were walking funny.
Learnt: the difference between a turtle and a turtoise and that we needed to maintain social distancing with the penguins to protect them.
Loved: to see the penguins.
Julia:
Did not understand: what was the brown and curvy thing that some street vendors sold.
Learnt: that penguins could swim for very long distances under water.
Loved: watching the penguins waddle and listening to their goodbye “song”.
Doo:
Did not understand: the signification of the indigenous totem.
Learnt: that young penguins did not belong to any “tribe” before settling with someone and building a nest.
Loved: to walk around amidst the penguins.