Our last full day on the Fridtjof Nansen and our last full day in Argentina!
No fun activities in the morning. Our bags have to be out by 21:00 tonight and we have an activity planned until 20:00 so the main objective today was to be mostly packed by lunch time.
The afternoon/early evening activity was a cruise through the Beagle Channel, which separates Chile from Argentina. Many explorers have navigated this channel through the archipelago.
At the first stop, the captain of the catamaran showed his fine piloting skills by squeezing us between two islands so that we could see the lighthouse on the island.
Oh yeah, we saw some birds on the island, ummm LOTS of birds.
And of course the main attraction was the sea lions. Lots of lazy, VERY stinky sea lions!
We saw only one coming out of the water onto shore. The others were mostly as lethargic as sea lions normally are, though a few moved here and there.
These two fought for a bit… (we think a bird pecked the big one, and he thought it was the little guy and let him know that wasn’t cool).
And one super friendly guy kept waving at us…
But eventually we had to go, so we didn’t wreck and become a derelict hull…
So we continued the cruise through the channel.
There were quite a few islands, one of which was exceptionally large and had a very unique coastal look.
We also passed Puerto Williams (we had a quick middle of the night required stop here what seems like eons ago) which vies with Ushuaia for the title of southernmost city. Puerto Williams is small enough that it’s called a village, so Ushuaia proudly claims the title although Puerto Williams is south of Ushuaia.
The Argentinian side was dotted with houses here and there. To reach these houses, one must drive 75 km east of Ushuaia on a road that is both gravel and paved. People make the drive because these are the homes of fishermen, and some open their homes to serve freshly caught fish and king crabs. If we had a car, we just might have tried to do that!
And there was a Ranger station on an island as well. It definitely looked slightly more official.
The final stop was the purpose of the cruise, and truly the highlight. PENGUINS! We didn’t get to see them in Antarctica…. since we didn’t make it there….but Hurtigruten wanted to ensure that we saw penguins so they arranged this excursion.
Before we get to the main attraction, here was a striking bird that we saw on the island as well:
Now, why we’re here… There were two species of penguins – Magellanic (or Magellen) and Gentoo.
The Magellanic penguins dig holes for their family, lay eggs there, eat, sleep, and live when they’re not out and about on the beach and in the water. Magellanic penguins have a dark black neck stripe.
Here are some Magellanic penguins who had been out fishing, and having just come back in, were resting and chilling on the beach:
In contrast, the Gentoo penguins build nests out of rocks and they live on the rocks. Our guide explained that the Gentoo penguins are a bit more hardy and stay in the area year-round whereas the others migrate north in the winter. Gentoo penguins are the larger of the two and have a distinct feature the others don’t – a yellow beak and yellow feet. The two species easily co-exist as they have different habitats.
Tim swears he saw a National Geographic episode being aired live. It went something like this:
Here we have a dedicated Gentoo male, looking to freshen up the nest for his mate while she sits on it.
Our intrepid male saunters over the hill, heading to the beach to find some rocks.
At the beach, he keenly surveys his choices. “No not that one, no not that one, no not that one…”
Until the ah-ha moment: “YES, SCORE, that one!”
Having found his prize, our handy fella quickly heads back to the nest, to add the shiny pebble.
Which after carefully placing in the nest, the journey starts afresh, with our industrious lad humming to himself:
“Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s back to the beach I go…”
Until he once again nears the beach when… uhhhh…
“D U D E! Enough with the photos and narration!!!! Just move on and leave me be”
Yes. Definitely Nat Geo episode quality. 😊
On the other side of the hill, the colony of Gentoo penguins were gathered in their nesting area, sitting on nests, standing around chatting, and generally just having a fine day.
Then one of the Hurtigruten guides starts getting excited. Nay, not excited, down right giddy. Why you ask?
A THIRD species of penguin is present! The KING penguin. King penguins are stunningly beautiful, and are the second largest penguin species. They are easily recognized by the dash of yellow on their heads, yellow along their beaks, and yellow at their necks.
Our boy standing amidst the Gentoo’s towered above them, and was easily recognized by his size alone… although he finally turned around to the delight of the guide (as well as many others) so his coloring could be clearly seen.
It actually looks like there might be a second one just to his right (our left) – above – but he definitely was a looker with a nice profile.
After the long boat ride back, we lucked out as the ship had docked therefore we did not have to wait to be tendered across the bay. A quick run to our room to drop off our belongings, and then a quick run to dinner.
We changed into our “going home” clothes as we did not want to carry today’s clothes with us all the way home (a drawback of having to relinquish luggage the night before departure), dropped off our bags, and headed up top for the captain’s farewell gathering.
Considering we had a trip unlike any other, the farewell was quite lighthearted and there were many references to us not making it to Antarctica. The ship’s photographer made a slide show, highlighting each of the ports & stops, which Hurtigruten will provide to us along with the ship’s log. Not sure how soon we’ll get that, but it will be a nice memento of an absolutely unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime trip!
During the captain’s speech, we learned that over 40% of the travelers on this sailing were able to extend their travel either with this ship or with the sister ship, Roald Amundsen, which left this evening. We are happy so many get the chance to experience Antarctica as planned this year, and we are happy to take our turn next year.
The captain and the expedition crew bade us a fond farewell, and likely started hustling immediately either to go home or to prepare for the next sailing, which leaves tomorrow.
Bags are out, we said our goodbyes, and that should be a wrap! Or is it??