Punta Arenas Hotels
Neilandamy's travel blogs:
|
|
  | |  |
145000 penguins and still Amy aint happy!!
Entry 108 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
Before we start i dont know what Neil is on about....of course im happy. I love penguins...and tell me what penguin lover would not be happy wandering among 140 000 penguins....up close and personal?
Anyway back to the beginning! We arrived in Punta Arenas early afternoon, after having to give in and take a flight. The 3 day bus journey just somehow didnt seem appealing...and after Navimag....the boast which sails down the coast to Punta Arenas broke down.....getting down to this part of the world has become nothing but chaos. The flight was nice and simple....well after our stupidity of forgetting we had a souvenir corkscrew in our hand luggage. We really didnt want to bin it, so ended up checking our hand luggage in as normal baggage! What do they think im gonna do with a bloody corkscrew on a plane? Plane was good, food and even dodgy TV programmes. We arrived and found our way to a cute little place....a hostal...which was old fashioned but still kinda nice. Had to have a twin room....but hey these things happen! Our room sorted we went exploring. Needed to find somewhere to book a penguin tour for tomorrow amongst other things. We decided that first we needed some light refreshment....so we headed for a Shopperia...thats a place that sells beer and burgers.....shopp being the word for draught beer! Enjoyed a liesurely beer and then went to book our penguin tour. That done we had run out of options! So just chilled till it was time to go find the evenings food.
Neil wanted to try some local seafood...so we headed for the place recommended in Lonely Planet. Was a strange little place....kinda like a dodgy market cafe....but it had seafood....so went for it. I opted for scallops, Neil had crab stew. Was good.....but it was local food....kinda the equivalent of pie and peas back home. No frills. We enjoyed it none the less..and you did get plenty of fish for your money....i had so many scallops i couldnt eat them all! The bottle of wine wasnt the best, but again it was cheap...so cant complain. Our bellies full we decided to call it a day.
Next day we had most of another bloody day to waste! Our tour didnt leave till 4pm...so what could we do all day? We had a nice leisurely get up....which was nice....had breakfast in the hostal....nice...with home made jam. Then headed out to town. There we successfully managed to waste the day doing absolutely nothing....then had lunch in the Shopperia....hotdogs and beer...mmmm.
Thankgod it was time to go see penguins. It felt very wierd going on a tour at that time of the day. Felt like it should be bedtime! We got a taxi to the dock, when we could get the guy to understand where we wanted to go....and arrived at the dock. Was all very odd....no sign of where to go...there were loads of people hanging around....but only ferries to be seen. We hung around for ages...then guessed we must be getting the ferry....and followed the crowds. Once on the ferry it was quite a long way...about 2 hours...so it must have been a long way. On reaching the small island, i began to get excited at seeing penguins, diving and swimming in the water around the boat....was really cool, cause you dont often get to see them swimming. Couldnt see any sight of penguins on the island tho. Were worried someone had stolen them all, but when we pulled up to the dock...well no more beached the ferry on the shore....there were bloody loads of them. The guy on the island....had to move them all on, in order that they didnt get crushed by the boat! They were everywhere.....millions of them....well 140000 of them to be precise....give or take a penguin or two. We then had an hour to wander across the island. It was soooo cool. We were walking along a marked path....literally inches from all the penguins. We only had a marked path to avoid standing on their burrows, they were free to walk wherever they wanted and they did! They crossed the path in droves....running backwards and forwards whenever anyone got too close! The island was covered with them....every bit of land....fluffy babies....noisy daddies...caring mums....it was an amazing sight. Took hundreds of photos....noone could resist they are just so cute and curious. Up near the lighthouse...the point we walked to....a crazy penguin chased me across the path which was quite funny! I was actually quite scared...they are quite big when they come waddling at ya!! Before long my time was up....we had to leave the island...i didnt want to go....could have watched them all day...they are just so funny. But the boat was leaving so i had little choice other than to sleep on the island! On the boat we watched the penguins all swimming to shore....diving in and out of the water like dolphins! Then we left. On the way back we saw loads of strange black and white dolphins swimming alongside the boat....had fun trying to get photos of them!
Back in Arenas we were starving....so we headed straight for food. It was a choice of two places but since one was pàcked and had no tables...we ended up in the Italian...or muchas pasta, poco $$$$ as it claimed! The place was dead which is never a good sign, but we were starving. The food was ok, my pasta was a little aldente....but hey...cant have gourmet food everyday! More nice wine though.....then we headed to bed....exhausted from all those penguins....no need to count penguins...i mean sheep that night!!!!
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries by neilandamy, from Chile or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
26 votes 
This is a top pick!
