penguins?

[trishu]

we can visit the penguins in puerto madryn( which takes all day) or punta arenas. any suggestions which one is better? i'd like to see them close up and personal.

[Keith1010]

I've only been to Punta Arenas (last January). We went to the Otway Sound and Penguin Reserve and definitely saw them up close and personal. Once you arrive there you can walk on about a one mile circular pathway. You will see penguins that will come right next to the pathway. Other than one building when you first arrived, everything else was totally natural with no fences, etc between the pathways and the penguins. It was a wonderful excursion.

 

Keith

[dileep]

we can visit the penguins in puerto madryn( which takes all day) or punta arenas. any suggestions which one is better? i'd like to see them close up and personal.

 

We are planning to do both.

[coiran]

The Puerto Madryn is at least 5 hours just driving time - The Punta Arenas, from what I understand, just a short drivr. We have booked with Turismo Nueva Mundo for a 4-5 hour Otway tour in Punta Arenas for $55 pp.

Ron

[jeanb]

Keith, did you have to walk a mile each way to see the penguins in Otway? The ship's shore excursion states it is a mile walk each way. How was the weather there? cold? windy? We are planning this trip December 2006.

[Keith1010]

Jean, it may have been about a mile each way but that includes the entire walk. It was no big deal for us but if you wanted to walk less you could turn around at any point. It isn't too far from where you are dropped off to where you start to see Penguins.

 

It was cool and windy the day we were there. We were there in late January. We were very well prepared so the weather was not a problem. My wife and I each wore a winter jacket, hat, gloves, sweater, heavier socks, and long underwear and that worked perfect. It was a great day.

 

I want to say that the bus ride to the Penguins in Punta Arenas was about an hour. You first drive on a regular road and then you go about 30 more minutes on a dirt like road. On that road we passed a variety of animals so that was nice.

 

Keith

[Trece]

We were on Royal Princess in 2003, Santiago to BA. We took every opportunity to do excursions involving penguins and I was thoroughly glad we did, not only because they were wonderful, but because our ship could not get into Puerto Madryn due to weather. Many on the ship had chosen to see penguins just once and it was to be in Puerto Madryn. Once that was cancelled, there were no more penguin opportunities to be had before disembarkation & so they never saw them! How awful! Depending on if you are going BA to Santiago or vice versa, pick your penguin ports wisely!

[jeanb]

Thanks, Keith for the information. Who did you use to go on this tour? We are going to be 3 couples and will try to do this tour.

[Keith1010]

Jean, we took this tour through our cruise line.

 

Keith

[cathi]

Depending on which way your ship is going, try to see the penguins in either place. Puerto Madryn is often very windy and many times the ships will have to bypass this port. We had a great shore excursion to Punto Tomba to see the penguins and it was nowhere near 5 hours drive!! And Penguins we did see!! Were told there is nearly a million that nest there each winter. In Punta Arenas, we went to Otway but there wasn't nearly the numbers of penguins that there were in Punto Tomba. Don't care they're all pretty cute!!

[trishu]

ron and connie have you heard about the tour company you are using? when are you going? maybe we should book both tours, i would hate to miss the penguins.

[cruzisme]

could you tell us how long it was for you to get to the P. Tombo reserve via bus? then how long did you stay there? total excursion time?

any info would be useful

Thanks from a fellow BC'er!:)

[mike35]

We just returned from a 15-day Oceania S. America cruise. We were extremely anxious to view penguins, so we booked 3 different excursions (all with private tour guides, as we never use ship excursions).

 

1. Punta Arenas (Otway Sound). We booked through Turismo Viento Sur (agencia@vientosur.com). Guide met us at the ship and we arrived at Otway well in advance of the ship tour busses. We shared this tour with another couple whom we met on Cruise Critic, and we had a great time and saw "muchos penguinos) up close. We also saw guanacos, foxes, rheas, etc. The walk is lengthy, however, but we felt it was well worth it.

 

2. Falkland Islands - we booked with Graham France and saw a few penguins from a distance.

 

3. Puerto Madryn (Punta Tombo). We used Whales Patagonia (whalespatagonia@infovia.com.ar). Four other couples, whom we met on CC, joined us. The van was very spacious and comfortable. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to reach the reserve, and we spent about an hour walking among (and I do mean AMONG) around 500,000 Magellanic penguins. I got some fantastic photos up close and personal! We then visited the charming Welsh village of Gaiman, where we had tea and sandwiches and Welsh pastries - excellent!. I highly recommend this trip!

 

Hope this helps

 

Mike

[trishu]

i've been waiting for you and carol to get back before i booked any excursions. thanks for your good advice. was rounding the horn rough? did you like buenos aries? what tango show do you reccomend? did you hear of one at el querandi? after hiking around santorini with you, this sounds like a piece of cake. any advice is appreciated. was it cold. we will be going in march, so i think that is fall . left my parkas in cleve, so just planning to layer. but i did bring gloves and a hat. glad youre back safe and sound!! hope the diet didnt get blasted too bad

[Linda-E]

Trishu,

 

Book both! Just back from Millennium where we booked penguin tours in Port Stanley and Puerto Madryn -- missed both of those ports due to weather. Really wish we'd gone to see penguins in Punta Arenas.

 

Linda

[mike35]

i've been waiting for you and carol to get back before i booked any excursions. thanks for your good advice. was rounding the horn rough? did you like buenos aries? what tango show do you reccomend? did you hear of one at el querandi? after hiking around santorini with you, this sounds like a piece of cake. any advice is appreciated. was it cold. we will be going in march, so i think that is fall . left my parkas in cleve, so just planning to layer. but i did bring gloves and a hat. glad youre back safe and sound!! hope the diet didnt get blasted too bad

 

The roughest part was from Stanley to Puerto Madryn; brutal! Not too many folks in the dining room that night, but fortunately Carol and I survived quite nicely. We took our Buenos Aires tour guide's (WOW Argentina - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!) recommendation on tango shows. First night we went to Piazzolla. Booked VIP (private box, great view and service), had a terrific meal, and thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially the male singer, who as world-class. Night two we went to Senior Tango - NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Again, please book VIP - much better view of this Hollywood-type spectacular, and the 22 ounce "Biftec 'Chorizo'" steak was the best we've ever eaten anywhere! You'll see lots of street tango dancers in the Boca section (fun, kitchy, touristy) and on the Florida pedestrian shopping mall (adjacent to the Marriott). B.A. and Montevideo had great weather; from Puerto Montt to Puerto Madryn was much cooler. The Chilean fjords and glaciers had miserable weather: cold, windy, cloudy, foggy. And yes, the diet went to hell (don't tell my cardiologist!!). Hope to cruise with you again in the future (we'll be on the Nautica on 3/16 for an East Asia cruise).

 

Mike

[max128]

We are interested in booking a private tour to Seno Otway Penguin Colony on end Mar, but the guide books on South America mentioned that the penguins would migrate my mid of Mar. Any suggestions on whether we should take this tour.

 

Thanks

 

Max128

[Bahama Kid]

I've read the same and since our stop in in April, we are not booking a penguin tour. A tour operator told us that it is unlikely they will operate in April. Also, weather is unpredictable and the cold and wind can be fierce or it can be a beautiful day.

[trishu]

we arrive at puerto madryn on mar 20. if the penguins are gone, i will be really dissapointed. i thought it was the end of mar that they moved. hope someone has the facts out there. maybe the tour companies will know. i will contact whalespatogonia and ask

[cathi]

Looks like you got all the answers. It was only a couple of hours drive out from Puerto Madryn. Spent about an hour and a half out with the penguins.

We were so happy just to get there!! Nearly didn't dock in Puerto Madryn. Good thing we had a crazy captain!! It was blowing pretty hard and he had quite a time getting the ship in to the dock!!

As to going around the horn - we had a wild ride!! got into the harbour in Port Stanley but the anchor wouldn't hold!! Nearly ended up on the beach!! So we left without ever setting foot on the Falkland's we left! Blew into a major storm!! There was hardly anyone in the dining room that night!! we had an outside cabin on the lowest deck and had our window washed a lot!!! But by the time we hit Cape Horn the next morning, it was all blue skies and "fresh" breezes!!

Hope this all helps! This is a great itin if you want something different!

[wlbox]

we are on the March 5 Millie cruise.... please give us more details!!!

 

more shore excursion info would be great. did you pack both summer and winter clothes?

how was checkin? how many formal nights? fun ship activities??

[geekgirl23]

I would have to echo what Linda-E said- book them both and cancel if you get bored of seeing penguins. On our Millenium cruise, the ship skipped Puerto Madryn and the Falklands. We were lucky in that we had booked the Magdalena Island excursion in Punta Arenas. It was an incredible experience- there were so many penguins and we walked among them (I was tempted just to bring one home with me they were so cute!). Our tablemates had booked penguins in the Falklands and Puerto Madryn and were very disapponited because they ended up not being able to see them at all.

[mike35]

I must add that although we enjoyed our cruise and its itinerary immensely, the highlight of the cruise was being able to walk among Magellanic penguins! DW bought shirts and figurines featuring these marvellous creatures, and IMHO, one should take every opportunity to get "up close and personal".

 

Mike

[cruzisme]

thanks for all the great info. one question: I have been trying to get in contact using the email addy for the above company, and receiving zero response from them. can anyone fill me in on what might be the problem? I emailed them our ship and date etc. would love a response from them. anyone who has emailed them in the last week and gotten a reply?