King Penguins?

[crazy4cruisn]

Our S America cruise that begins in Valparaiso and ends in Rio Puerto will dock in Puerto Montt, Puerta Arenas, Ushuaia, Stanley, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio. Will king peguins be in these areas besides Sparrow Cove and Bluff Cove, Falklands? We will go on down to Palmer Station and Petermann Island, Antarctica and Elephant Island. Are the kings ever seen in that area?

[dileep]

Our S America cruise that begins in Valparaiso and ends in Rio Puerto will dock in Puerto Montt, Puerta Arenas, Ushuaia, Stanley, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Rio. Will king peguins be in these areas besides Sparrow Cove and Bluff Cove, Falklands? We will go on down to Palmer Station and Petermann Island, Antarctica and Elephant Island. Are the kings ever seen in that area?

 

No. You will see only Magellanic (*****) penguins everywhere else in Chile (Punta Arenas) and Argentina (Puerto Madryn). To see Gentoo and King you have to go to the Falklands. Lots of Kings at Volunteer point.

 

Don't know about Antartica. May be they have Emperors there. Not sure about Elephant Island either.

[wlbox]

how do we get to Volunteer Point? is it a Celebrity excursion?

 

thanks

[dileep]

how do we get to Volunteer Point? is it a Celebrity excursion?

 

It is a very long excursion (7+ hours) that Celebrity offers for over $200 per person You can find the exact details on the Celebrity web site.

 

Volunteer Point info at http://www.ladatco.com/fk-volunteer.htm

[crazy4cruisn]

Hello Dileep,

Thanks for all the great information! We will be on the Rotterdam and they do not dock in Puerto Madryn so we will not get to go to Punto Tombo. Where do you think you saw the most impressive penguins? Did you get to see many kings? Although we do go more in to the Antarctic we do not do any landings. I wonder if we will be able to see any kings from the ship in that area.

[dileep]

Hello Dileep,

Thanks for all the great information! We will be on the Rotterdam and they do not dock in Puerto Madryn so we will not get to go to Punto Tombo. Where do you think you saw the most impressive penguins? Did you get to see many kings? Although we do go more in to the Antarctic we do not do any landings. I wonder if we will be able to see any kings from the ship in that area.

 

We liked Seno Otway near Punta Arenas better than Punta Tombo.

 

We did not know that Celebrity had made exclusive arrangements with the owners of Bluff & Sparrow Cove, and Volunteer Point. We thought we could hire a driver with a 4WD and go there ourselves, but that was not possible.

 

We ended up going to Gypsy Cove which had a handfull of Magellanic penguins and one lone King, but he put on quite a show for us. He was asleep on the beach until a low flying RAF jet woke him up.

[crazy4cruisn]

Many thanks, Dileep! Guess we will do Gypsy Cove too. Our ship charge is $159 for Sparrow Cove!

[dileep]

Many thanks, Dileep! Guess we will do Gypsy Cove too. Our ship charge is $159 for Sparrow Cove!

 

Go to Sparrow Cove where you will see both Gentoo and King. Very few penguins at Gypsy Cove. Celebrity charges about $125 for Sparrow.

 

There is just one King at Gypsy and he may not be as close as he was when we were day. Later in the day he was quite far off.

 

If your ship is not very big, they may not have boooked up all the tours and you might be able to get a private tour on a 4WD to Bluff Cove. Contact a local travel company in Port Stanley.

[crazy4cruisn]

I have contacted several and they all tell me that the only way to go is with the ship. I think the ship has a monopoly! I am not sure I want to pay $159 to see 4 - 5 pair of kings; we will see.......I think HAL is charging more than any other ship.

[dileep]

I have contacted several and they all tell me that the only way to go is with the ship. I think the ship has a monopoly! I am not sure I want to pay $159 to see 4 - 5 pair of kings; we will see.......I think HAL is charging more than any other ship.

 

There are no Gentoo at Gypsy Cove. Just a handful of Magellans.

The penguins start leaving sometime in March.

 

Our ship had a monopoly too. If you are lucky the lone King will still be there on the beach at Gypsy.