• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

Their shamelessness is their super power.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Books are my comfort food!

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
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]

by WaterGirl|  May 19, 20235:00 am| 15 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

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. 

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Wee Hours Open Thread
Next Post: TGIF Morning Open Thread: Ooof »

Reader Interactions

15Comments

  1. 1.

    eclare

    May 19, 2023 at 5:40 am

    Love the penguins!

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 19, 2023 at 5:48 am

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

    That’s when the fun begins!

  3. 3.

    JPL

    May 19, 2023 at 7:40 am

    Such a fascinating journey and thank you for sharing your photos with us.

  4. 4.

    Albatrossity

    May 19, 2023 at 7:53 am

    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.

  5. 5.

    Anyway

    May 19, 2023 at 8:56 am

    What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed it.

  6. 6.

    MelissaM

    May 19, 2023 at 9:01 am

    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

    May 19, 2023 at 9:54 am

    @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!!!

  8. 8.

    pieceofpeace

    May 19, 2023 at 10:33 am

    Enjoyed my seated home view of your excellent adventure!

  9. 9.

    Steve from Mendocino

    May 19, 2023 at 10:37 am

    @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

    May 19, 2023 at 11:37 am

    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

    May 19, 2023 at 12:13 pm

    @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.

  12. 12.

    way2blue

    May 19, 2023 at 12:39 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Definitely.

  13. 13.

    way2blue

    May 19, 2023 at 12:46 pm

    @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.

  14. 14.

    way2blue

    May 19, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    @MelissaM:

    I have no idea how they burrow, seems they don’t quite have the right tools…

  15. 15.

    Albatrossity

    May 19, 2023 at 12:59 pm

    @way2blue: Lots of seabirds live in burrows, including puffins, shearwaters, penguins, etc. They apparently do dig them without the right tools, or they enlarge an existing cavity and move in. Frankly, bird nesting behaviors are amazing; check out your nearest oriole nest for another example of “How do they do that?”

    Here’s an interesting article on various ways to provide artificial burrows for some endangered seabirds.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - 🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Aurora and the Comet 1
Image by BillinGlendaleCA (12/12/25)

2026 Pets of Balloon Juice Calendar

PLEASE REVIEW YOUR INFO ASAP

Recent Comments

  • Geminid on Late Night Open Thread: … ‘Power without Responsibility, the Prerogative of the Harlot… ‘ (Dec 13, 2025 @ 5:50am)
  • p.a. on Late Night Open Thread: … ‘Power without Responsibility, the Prerogative of the Harlot… ‘ (Dec 13, 2025 @ 5:43am)
  • p.a. on Late Night Open Thread: … ‘Power without Responsibility, the Prerogative of the Harlot… ‘ (Dec 13, 2025 @ 5:37am)
  • Anyway on Late Night Open Thread: … ‘Power without Responsibility, the Prerogative of the Harlot… ‘ (Dec 13, 2025 @ 5:32am)
  • Birdie on Late Night Open Thread: … ‘Power without Responsibility, the Prerogative of the Harlot… ‘ (Dec 13, 2025 @ 5:26am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
On Artificial Intelligence (7-part series)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix
Rose Judson (podcast)

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Privacy Manager

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!