Penguins as far as you can see — 2 million adult penguins and 1 million chicks!

We cruised further north along the Argentina coast to Puerto Madryn where the temperatures were more summer like. This port gave us the last opportunity to go on an excursion to view penguins. The excursion took us on a 2 hour bus ride to a rocky 3-km long and 600-meter wide sea side area, covered by sand, clay and gravel outside of Punta Tombo, Argentina. Surrounded by beach, it is the worlds largest concentration of sea birds and penguins in the entire Patagonia region. There is one gravel path where human visitors must stay, and bridges so the penguins can travel their route to and from the water without human interference.

The landscape is full of caves, where the penguins lay their eggs and raise their young.
We watched the hectic activity dominating the colony, as whereas some penguins would stay in their caves or sun just outside their caves, others would fight over their territories, at the same time that the continuous murmur of their voices would invade the atmosphere. The chicks were born in November (we were there in January) so the family portraits were great fun to create. The chicks still have their down and cannot swim so either mom or dad are out to sea looking for food, hungry mouths to feed and all that stuff.

This is the largest Magellan Penguin rookery in the world, and amazing cacophony of sound.

View these penguins on our video: