Strait of Magellan - Day 8 and 9

Day 8 was a day that we had all been looking forward to for several months.  It was on our must do list before we even started planning.  We woke up early, had breakfast, and headed to the port.  We were ready for a boat trip on the Strait of Magellan to visit Isla Magdalena.  This little island in the Strait is home to the Magellan penguins for 5-6 months of the year.  In September the males arrive to ready the nest for his mate (which is always the same mate, but they only see each other while on this island, they separate in the off season).  The females arrive and then the beginning of October brings 1-2 eggs.  For 40-45 days the eggs incubate and then the babies are born.  When we saw them (Feb. 14) the babies were quite large, but easy to recognize by their grayish brown or light grey soft feathers.  Right now the young are learning to fish for themselves because come end of March they are on their own as all the penguins leave and head north to coasts of Brasil.

Run Easton Run!

This penguin is nesting!  

 I just gotta sing!

How I love these two.

Look at all of them!

After the boat it was on to lunch and a little exploring of Punta Arenas.  Then a little down time and a Peruvian dinner.  The next day we packed up and headed to the airport for a smooth flight home.  It was an extraordinary trip.  We saw an amazing part of the world and loved it all.  And as a bonus we had perfect weather.  Warm and mostly sunny, what a true miracle for us.  

Day 7 -- Back to Chile

Day 7 was a big travel day.  From El Calafate to Punta Arenas.  It was a long drive for Mark.  Unfortunately with my lack of equilibrium I was not able to drive the whole week, so that left a lot of driving for Mark.  So grateful for him to do all that driving and keeping us safe.  We made it through the Argentine and Chilean immigration and made our way to just out of Puerto Natales to Cave of the Milodon (a giant sloth).  This area is a major archaeological site.  It was a nice little break in our long day of driving.  Then on to a nice dinner in Puerto Natales and then to our final destination - returning to Punta Arenas.

Unfortunately I left the camera in the car (my sense of balance was not great this particular day, so I was concentrated on other things).  So this very large owl was photographed with Mark's phone.

Day 6 - El Calafate!!!

Day 6 -- We made our way about 80 kilometers from El Calafate to the Glacier National Park.  It was a beautiful park.  We started with a picnic, which was cut short due to the huge amount of bees.  

 Our first view of the glacier Perrito Morena.  We were a little worried because at this particular spot it was extremely windy, which made it very cold.  But this must be the "cold" spot in the park.  It wasn't like that anywhere else.

 Despite the fact that we are all looking very bundled up, it was very pleasant.  We were very comfortable as far as temperature.  In fact because it was so warm the glacier was putting on quite a show.  Every 5-10 minutes there would be this very loud "crack," much like a gun shot.  And then a chuck of the glacier would crack off and fall into the lake.  We loved being there and experiencing this phenomenon.  The Perrito Morena is one of three glaciers in South America that is still growing.

Can I just tell you how hard it is to get a picture of our family?!  And the one below some one took several pictures for us and Easton looks exactly the same in all 3.  What?

 It looks like another planet.

 On the way back from Glacier National Park we stopped at the lake right near our hotel and saw all these guys!  I was pretty excited by seeing these flamingos.  I just always picture flamingos in Florida, not in Patagonia.

The place we stayed had this little cottage behind it and it is where we stayed.  We loved El Calafate!  After the glacier we spent time walking around the main street of shops and bought some Argentinean chocolate and had some ice cream.  Then it was on to a nice dinner, some Olympics, and bed.