The South American and Antarctic experience on the Zaandam

[scubacruiserx2]

There are gravel paths and walkways that lead down toward the ocean

 

 

we wanted to move down quickly before the busses arrived 

 

 

 

in addition to penguins you can also see guanaco

 

 

as I was taking a photo my wife called my name

 

 

I took some still shots

 

 

 

and she got the video :

 

 

 

 

[Manfred B]

30 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 No problem, thank you for your input. Could you share any photos from Bluff Cove?

 

Honestly, our experience at Bluff Cove was not dissimilar to yours at Volunteer Point (albeit with a much shorter bouncy ride). However, there was a much smaller contingent of Kings (maybe 25 or so) among the many Gentoos. Clearly, the thrust of my photos and videos was primarily on the much more colorful King Penguins. Here are a few of my better attempts.

[scubacruiserx2]

Great Manfred B. Thank you for sharing. Looks like a great option to see the King and Gentoo penguins. Love penguins.

[Manfred B]

4 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Great Manfred B. Thank you for sharing. Looks like a great option to see the King and Gentoo penguins. Love penguins.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your Punta Tombo pics. We were there with you, altho we didn't have any real close encounters with the guanaco (only saw them in the distance, but I was able to pull a few of them in quite nicely with my 42x zoom).

[caneable]

1 hour ago, Manfred B said:

Honestly, our experience at Bluff Cove was not dissimilar to yours at Volunteer Point (albeit with a much shorter bouncy ride). However, there was a much smaller contingent of Kings (maybe 25 or so) among the many Gentoos. Clearly, the thrust of my photos and videos was primarily on the much more colorful King Penguins. Here are a few of my better attempts.

 

Great stuff, Manfred, really enjoyed them especially the videos. Incidentally, just out of interest, did you ever see the 3 Kings find whatever it was they were looking for in the first video?

[Manfred B]

3 minutes ago, caneable said:

 

Great stuff, Manfred, really enjoyed them especially the videos. Incidentally, just out of interest, did you ever see the 3 Kings find whatever it was they were looking for in the first video?

They were just coming back from the sea (probably after feeding) and looking to rejoin the rest of their colony, which they had just about done at the end of that video, perhaps to share food with their chics (though I didn't follow long enough to notice).

[Crewbie]

The post response system seems to have disappeared; thanks for answering my curiosity about your photo process, scuba!

 

Having a good time hearing about and seeing other experiences with the same places. Volunteer Point was definitely a highlight for us; we honestly felt very fortunate/breathed a sigh of relief to know that we would be able to tender in to Stanley the day of. 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

You're welcome . We were suppose to go to Stanley in 2013 on the Zaandam but went to Puerto Madryn instead . We've also heard  that it's hard to make Stanley because of weather concerns . So we were really thrilled to get to Volunteer Point and to see Antarctica .

Edited February 19, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It was sure nice seeing the chulengo reunited with it's family

 

 

 

It was also nice to see the penguins with  so many chicks 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed like the chicks were hungry and let you know it

 

 

 

[caneable]

i Understand that Punta Tombo is very clearly delineated by fences.  How close to the penguins do you get?

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, caneable said:

i Understand that Punta Tombo is very clearly delineated by fences.  How close to the penguins do you get?

  

As close as they want

 

 

 

 

the fence

 

 

Large noisy groups tend to scare them away

 

 

 

That's why we went early and stayed later , it's a better quality relationship

 

[TayanaLorna]

So many penguins, so many places.  Didn't you get penguin'd out?  😎

 

Seriously...on our 2020 cruise we have the opportunity to see penguins from Punta Arenas, The Falklands and Puerto Madryn (not going to Antarctica).  So what say our cruise critic penguin tour expert?  What was your favorite penguin touring location?

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

So many penguins, so many places.  Didn't you get penguin'd out?  😎

 

Seriously...on our 2020 cruise we have the opportunity to see penguins from Punta Arenas, The Falklands and Puerto Madryn (not going to Antarctica).  So what say our cruise critic penguin tour expert?  What was your favorite penguin touring location?

 

Our favorite penguin tour was Stanley, Falkland Islands. Puerto Madryn ( Punta Tombo)was our second favorite. Punta Arenas was ok - most uncomfortable of the tours. We did see plenty of penguins at each site. We did "private tours" for all the ports.

There are several options at Punta Arenas - including Torres del Paine, which we have done in the past and really enjoyed it.

[Manfred B]

Completely agree with scubacruiser's assessment: Falklands, then Punta Tombo. We didn't do the Penguin outing at Punta Arenas, choosing instead to do the ship replica museum there. Also, we did Bluff Cove on the Falklands instead of Volunteer Point (less costly, shorter bumpy ride, and less time consuming), but still a terrific opportunity to see those beautiful King Penguins (albeit in smaller quantity), along with Gentoos. We only saw Magellanic Penguins and Guanaco at Punta Tombo near Puerto Madryn. I believe Punta Arenas has the Magellanic Penguins as well. Would've liked to have seen Rockhoppers on the Falklands, but that was a separate tour; can only do so much in one day!

[scubacruiserx2]

Penguin parade and beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming videos :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caneable]

Scubacruiser your photos continue to speak volumes.

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Some of the birds were relaxing

 

 

and others calling out

 

 

and some were looking for a nice fat chick

 

 

 

 

 

and all too soon it was time to start making our way back to the ship

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

8 minutes ago, caneable said:

Scubacruiser your photos continue to speak volumes.

 

Every picture tell a story - Rod Stewart

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We asked Max if there was somewhere that he could stop for a photo of the Zaandam in port so he stopped across the water

 

 

 

 

We had a guest on the bulbous bow of the ship

 

 

 

The overlook where Max took us

 

[caneable]

7 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

We had a guest on the bulbous bow of the ship

 

 

 

You guys never stop looking do you?

 

 

 

[perfect match]

8 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

 

 

I really hope that this "stowaway" was able to be safely disembarked from your ship before you left port!

I'm also wondering where "we" are going on our next cruise! 

 

Manfred B, thanks for sharing your penguin pictures! I can seem to get enough of those cute little guys!

Edited February 21, 2019 by perfect match

[scubacruiserx2]

 

You guys never stop looking do you?

 

Or stop taking photos

 

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

I really hope that this "stowaway" was able to be safely disembarked from your ship before you left port!

I'm also wondering where "we" are going on our next cruise! 

 

Manfred B, thanks for sharing your penguin pictures! I can seem to get enough of those cute little guys!

 

We think that he was part of the escort service ( next photos ) . Thy offered diving with the sea lions at this port ,but we know that Orca like diving with sea lions also and so we were out . So peguins it was .

If you and Barry are free this Sunday and would like to go on the Nieuw Statendam they still have verandah suites on our deck at a good price ( $3500) . We need a 3rd diver to book a fast boat in Cozumel . We could book we your provider in Grand Cayman if you would like ( I can't book from the ship because I'm over 65 ) . We would love to see you guys .

 

Pat & Joe

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

As we left the pier we had an escort service to show us the way out

 

 

 

Video clips :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dolphin and birds feeding

 

 

 

It looked like a hurricane in the sky

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

Thank you scubacruiser and Manfred B for your penguin seeing assessments.  I have already booked Patrick Watts for Volunteer Point and our Cruise lines included excursion is to Punta Trombo.

 

Have either of you been to Puerto Madryn before and gone on an excursion to the Valdez Penninsula for wildlife?