South American and Antarctic Adventure! Volume II: Zaandam Cruise, Part XV: Puerto Madryn and Day at Sea

We had been hearing since the beginning of our cruise that if we were going to miss any ports on this cruise it would be Ushuaia or Port Stanley. Once we missed Ushuaia I started to get really nervous that we would not be able to tender in the Falkland Islands. I wanted to see the King penguins SOOO badly and I couldn't stand the thought of going home not seeing a penguin colony up close.

After we missed Ushuaia, I booked an excursion for Josh and I to see a Magellanic penguin colony at Puerto Madryn, Argentina. I knew they were not as majestic as the King penguins, but if we missed the Falkland Islands at least I would be able to see the Magellanic penguins up close.

Luckily, we were able to see the King penguins in the Falkland Islands, and seeing the Magellanic penguin colony at Punta Tombo was an added bonus!

January 4th:

We entered Golfo Nuevo in the early morning and docked at the small city of Puerto Madryn, Argentina. This area is in northern Patagonia and is know for two Natural Parks: the Valdes Peninsula and Punta Tombo. Most of the excursions take you to the Valdes Peninsula where you can see sea lions, whales, and penguins, but Josh and I decided to head to Punta Tombo to see the largest Magellanic penguin colony in the world (over ONE MILLION!) instead!

[Large Valdes Peninsula, Puerto Madryn (on the west side of the Golfo Nuevo), and the blue pin is where Punta Tombo is (111 miles south of Puerto Madryn)]

[Puerto Madryn]

Mom, dad, and Theo didn't have an excursion planned, so they decided just to walk along the boardwalk and enjoy the beach.

While my parents and Theo strolled around town, Josh and I headed south on our tour bus to Punta Tombo.


During the long bus ride to Punta Tombo our tour guide told us all about Puerto Madryn, the history of the area, what mate is (a popular tea drink) and why everyone is obsessed with it, and about the culture in Patagonia.

[Mate]


[We drove by this Titanosauria recreation! A large nesting ground with a lot of fossils were found near this area!]

[Guanaco]

We arrived at Punta Tombo and were told by our tour guide to stay on the path and to let the penguins walk by if they try to cross the path. Simple enough!

 Magellanic penguins burrow into the ground and lay their eggs there.

[Sleeping]

[Burrows]

[Chicks with an adult]

[A herd of guanaco were mixed in with the penguins]

[Penguins marching back from the sea]

[Chicks!]

We walked along the path (at times it was elevated) to the beach were we saw penguins going out to sea and coming back from eating.

The path ended at this lookout. We saw tons of penguins coming back from the sea!

After checking out the beach area, we walked back along the path towards the park entrance.

[A kiss?!]

[Babysitter?!]

We got back to the park entrance early so we went to check out the gift shop. We were told by our tour guide that if we had the chance we needed to eat some local dulce de leche. You don't have to tell me twice!

Josh and I ate our delicious dulce de leche cookies, hopped back on the bus, and enjoyed a nap while the bus took us back to the Zaandam.
As we were boarding the Zaandam, Josh saw these sea lions!

Once we were back on board I headed to the MainStage to listen to Tamara's "Talk" entitled "The Future of the Antarctic Treaty." She said during her "Talk" that some of the information would be on our Antarctic Team Trivia challenge. I had been to all of the "Talks" given by the EXC Expedition Team, so I was determined to win!

[Exiting the Golfo Nuevo]

That night we played the "Majority Rules Game Show," which we won! Yay!

We then went to dinner and to see the Emperors of Soul show at the MainStage.


January 5th:


Today was our last day at sea!

We attended three "Talks" (Buenos Aires, Fútbol - A Passion of Multitudes, and Life in Antarctica), a Question and Answer session with the EXC Expedition Team, two team trivias, and "Chocolate Surprise!"

The first "Talk" we went to was all about Buenos Aires. What a beautiful city! It made me realize that we should have stayed for a few extra days in the city after we were done with the cruise. 

Bryan, our geologist, did a presentation on all of his time in the Antarctic. He started coming to Antarctica when he was in his early 20s. He told us some crazy, tragic, and funny stories. One time a huge storm came and it washed away all of the rocks he had collected along with most of his food and fuel. So, he had to eat penguins in order to survive until the ship came back!

[Theo loved being in his stroller as long as he had his ball and his music]

After our last Team Trivia, a bunch of the Zaandam staff came out with a ton of chocolate dipped marshmallows, macarons, and all kinds of chocolate treats! YUM!