Magellanic Penguins!

Monday, March 9

We spent the night at Magellnia in Puerto Natales again, with an early morning wake-up to catch a bus back to Punta Arenas. This was one of the more interesting bus rides of our trip, because we had no seat reservations. The bus driver and his deaf-mute assistant assured us that their would be open seats, but as more people piled on and we continued shuffling our seats, we realized that there were only 3 open seats with 4 of us remaining. Pearl graciously volunteered herself to sit in the front cabin with the bus driver and the deaf mute for a 3 hour ride to Punta Arenas. It was an interesting experience for Pearl because she spent the next 3 hours using a mix of Spanish, English, and sign language to communicate with the two men riding shotgun. Interestingly, enough the 3 amigos had a great time telling jokes and random stories of the road. Only at the bottom of the world would something like this happen.


We made it into Punta Arenas and immediately booked a spot on the ferry to Isla Magdalena, the home of 130,000 Magellanic Penguins. With our spot secured we checked in at the cheapest hostel we could find, and settled on Backpackers Paradise. The price was right at $5000 per night despite the crowded rooms and thin walls. Backpackers paradise doesn’t offer more than a roof and a bed, but that’s all we were looking for on this night.


We dropped our bags and did a bit of exploring around Punta Arenas. This city has a lot of character and history. It sits right on the banks of the Straight of Magellan and has had centuries of European exposure and influence. The architecture reflects bits of old Spain and France, while the city boasts a history rich in exploration of the South Pole and Antarctica. In fact, Punta Arenas was the launching pad for Shackelton’s expeditions to the South Pole.

After a quick seafood lunch in the center we headed for the port where our ferry was waiting. We boarded, and the old red cargo ship chugged along for 2 hours until we came upon Isla Magdelena. As the ferry slowly approached the shore we could make out thousands of black dots on the island. My heart skipped a beat knowing that this was the seasonal home to 130,000 penguins. The penguins migrate from the north during breeding season to inhabit the island in the summer months creating Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos, one of the largest penguin sanctuaries in all of South America.

Groups of the Magellanic penguins glided through the water alongside the boat, catching small fish and ignoring the intrusion of tourists upon their breeding home. Spread over the gentle hills of the island were thousands of bunker type nests where infants and adolescents, in their fluffy gray molting feathers, waited while their parents searched for food in the sea. As we made our way along the single path traversing the island we heard yelps of excitement from the birds. Many of the penguins seemed intrigued and intimidated by my bright yellow shoes as they cocked their heads side to side as a warning to remain clear of their nest. While ropes lining the path were meant to keep the tourists in check, the penguins had the run of the island, crossing and even napping in the middle of the path. At the top of the island was a red and white lighthouse where you have a 360 degree view of the island. The air was so clear we were able to see the island of Tierra del Fuego and even Punta Arenas in the distance. After about and hour we were ushered back to the boat by our annoying guide, and as we shoved off a full moon began to rise over the horizon.

Back in Punta Arenas we sat down to a celebratory dinner at La Marmita to congratulate ourselves on completing the “W” trek. The food was spectacular and reasonably priced. It was nice to fill our bellies with hearty meat and fish after 4 days of canned goods & soup on the hiking trail. This was an experience unlike any other, and it is one none of us will soon forget.