We took a 90-minute ride through the "pampas" to a coastal bay to see the Magellan Penguins who nest in burrows they dig in the sandy soil. The chicks were almost ready to leave the nests for good (which they do when they are about 60 days old), so it was almost the last time to see them here this year. One parent stays on the nest while the other feeds for about 8 hours in the nearby ocean. Some of the chicks showed more of their secondary feathers than others while some were still in the fuzzy stage which makes them look like stuffed animals.
We had an excellent guide (Marcella) who pointed out other animals and birds along the way...the rhea, caricaras, llamas, etc. We began the day in sun, but it was cloudy by the time we returned to the ship. We wore 3 layers, and our rain pants and were comfortable (temps in the 40's.) It's usually very windy here, but it was only about 20 mph today...last week it was 90 mph!
Ushuaia tomorrow.
OOOPS...spoke too soon...the Captain just informed us that we will skip the port of Ushuaia tomorrow and instead head directly to Antarctica tonight...there's a bad storm brewing that will impact our crossing on the day we were scheduled to cross...so he wants to get across Drake's Crossing tomorrow. We'll have an extra day in Antarctica which is fine with us! He'll have more weather forecasts for us tomorrow. I had planned to upload this from Ushuaia tomorrow, but shall go upload it tonight...along with the cute penguin photos. I saw some whales earlier today so hope to see if we see them tonight as we leave at 8...sunset about 10 pm.
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