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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – way2blue – Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023]

On The Road – way2blue – Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023]

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way2blue

After our last glacier stop we headed out on the final leg of our journey.  We were cautioned that during the night the ship would leave the sheltered channels to travel in the Pacific Ocean for a while before entering the Strait of Magellan.  To be careful when walking about; use the hand rails…  Our cabin was mid-ship on the main deck so likely one of the most stable rides of the ship.  Of course the more expensive cabins on the higher decks pitched & rolled a bit more.  Nonetheless we felt a gentle roll during the night with a few items rattled loose in shower.  (A woman at breakfast the following morning asked the staff if that was the roughest seas they’d ever experienced and I had to squelch a laugh.  Remembering the rough seas I’d experienced years ago on a research cruise in the North Pacific when we wedged life vests under either side of the mattress to not get thrown out of our bunks.  A sea story for another day…  )

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 8
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

We arose before dawn and headed to Magdalena Island to see Magellanic penguins!  Being at a high latitude—dawns and sunsets go on forever.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 7
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

Zodiac silhouetted against the dawn sky.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 6
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

Dawn was cool and windy.  So of course the penguins were mostly snug in their burrows.  This guy (gal?) however was checking us out.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 5
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

The island was mostly sand, burrows & feathers.  Lots of burrows and lots of feathers.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 4
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

A juvenile molting before the long winter migration north.  Evidently much of the colony had already left on the trek—traveling as far as Peru.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 3
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

Slowly waking up with the sun.  They are adorable creatures with their formal outfits and waddling gait.  A few had started hopping into the water as we were lined up to head back to the ship.  Looking for breakfast I presume.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 2
MAGDALENA ISLAND.

Spotted this cluster of penguins down by the shore.  Not sure what they were conferring about.  (A bit blurry as my trusty Lumix wasn’t quite up to the job.)

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023] 1
PUNTA ARENAS

After visiting the penguins we headed to our final stop.  Sadly.  My spouse was ready to stay onboard for the return journey to Ushuaia.  Passengers had been divided into five groups for various activities during the cruise:  OAT tour; Road Scholar tour; German speakers; Spanish speakers, and our group of ‘independent English speakers’.  I think there was one more small tour group, but I never caught the name.  This evening during dinner at a lovely hotel up above the town, I watched the Ventus Australis head back south on its return journey.

On The Road - way2blue - Magdalena Island, Chile [March 2023]
PUNTA ARENAS

A couple tugs boats snugged us up against the pier.  The ‘independent English speakers’ were the last group to leave the ship.  After clearing immigration, my spouse headed off in search of an ATM for Chilean pesos to pay a taxi.  By the time he returned all the taxis were gone…  And we were again on our own to bumble our way to the next destination. 

Reader Interactions

15Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    And we were again on our own to bumble our way to the next destination.

    That’s when the fun begins!

  4. 4.

    Albatrossity

    Penguins! Thanks for sharing these; it sure looks like you had a great trip!

    I do hope other folks who have been reading and appreciating these On The Road posts, and who have traveled to interesting places, can put together some posts and send them in ASAP. WaterGirl’s comment earlier this week was a little worrisome; I sure don’t want this feature of BJ to wither on the vine and go away.

  6. 6.

    MelissaM

    Penguins burrow? Huh! The solitary penguins and all the holes in the ground strike me as funny. It all sounds like a fascinating trip!

  7. 7.

    Yutsano

    @Albatrossity: ​I have a post pending but I just need to get it assembled and submitted. Especially since it’s about spring and spring is almost over.

    Also: PENGIES!!!

  9. 9.

    Steve from Mendocino

    @Albatrossity:Janie and I have continued to work up pictures, but we were told by watergirl a while back that the writeups had become “inappropriate” for OTR, even though the new offerings were much like the old ones. We will not be posting to OTR any more until and unless watergirl stops insisting that we bend the writeups to her whims.

  10. 10.

    pat

    Fascinating.  I have read lots of books about the early explorers down there and I am always struck by the hardships they endured.

    Heh, Endurance, heh…..

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    @Steve from Mendocino:

    Steve, it’s nice to see you in the comments.

    Even so, what you wrote here is a misrepresentation of the facts, and I feel that I need to say so publicly since you have made public accusations.

    I will just say this. You had written to me proposing an idea that you, yourself, identified as a different approach to OTR.

    We can’t always get what we want, and while we welcome suggestions, this particular suggestion is not a direction Balloon Juice wants to go in. In our extensive discussions, it became clear that approach you suggested is simply not a good fit for the OTR feature.

    We are not going to litigate this in the comments. If you want to continue the conversation, we can not do it here.

    As I have said many times, I hope you will come to feel that you can continue to submit posts as you always have; posts that all of us have enjoyed. All we’ve said is that we do not want to go with the new approach you had proposed.

    If you continue to choose to no longer submit to OTR, that’s totally up to you, but we will all miss your submissions, including me.

  13. 13.

    way2blue

    @Albatrossity:

    I hope to assemble a short series from Torres del Paine and another from Valparaiso.   For some reason, most of my photos from Ushuaia aren’t to be found on my phone nor my Lumix.  Sigh.

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