Where Are the Penguins?

As winter turns to spring – in the Southern Hemisphere – penguins are on the move, but it’s not for their Patagonia vacation. Rather, this is the season that most of them, after spending the winter at sea, migrate to their nesting sites in the South Atlantic and South Pacific, including Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands.

A solitary Magellanic penguin in the abandoned lighthouse at Isla de los Pingüinos

With that in mind, I thought I’d suggest some of my favorite sites for flightless bird-watching, except that they’re not flightless – they fly through the water! Penguin nesting sites occur on much of the coastline of both Argentina and Chile – there’s even one just a couple hours from the Chilean capital of Santiago – but access is best in Patagonia.

Humboldt & Magellanic Penguins

Visitors to Chile’s southern “lakes district” can take a detour to Chiloé – similar to Vancouver Island - only 27 km from the city of Ancud, where the northerly Humboldt penguin and southerly Magellanic penguin overlap their ranges at the Monumento Natural Islotes de Puñihuil (pictured above). These similar species nest in burrows on offshore islets, but local fishermen shuttle penguin-spotters within camera distance.

Puñihuil is easily the best accessible place to see the Humboldts but, elsewhere in Patagonia the Magellanics are present in abundance. The biggest colony is at Argentina’s Punta Tombo (pictured above), near the city of Trelew in Chubut province, but there are accessible sites near the Chilean city of Punta Arenas, at the mainland Otway Sound and the offshore Isla Magdalena (pictured below, where Patagonia cruises and local excursions both stop). At all of these, it’s possible to approach the penguins closely – often they’ll approach you - though there are some restrictions.

King Penguins

King penguins, which are not migratory, stand out for their size and bright colors, but they’re more common on remote offshore islands than in easily accessible Patagonian locations. Occasionally a wanderer shows up at Punta Tombo or another site where other species breed, but the most accessible choice is the private Parque Pingüino Rey reserve (pictured above) on the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego. This is a full-day excursion by ferry and road from the city of Punta Arenas, but it’s well worth the time.

Rockhopper Penguins

An angry rockhopper in the Falkland Islands

Exactly what their name suggests, rockhopper penguins nest on stony offshore islands on which they land by force of waves and then, painstakingly, they hop up to drier nesting spots. These are “crested penguins,” along with their close relatives the Macaroni, which occasionally (but rarely) appears among them. One of the easiest places to see rockies is the Isla de los Pingüinos (pictured above), reached from Argentina’s picturesque Puerto Deseado, where there are frequent excursions in summer on rigid inflatables – sea conditions permitting. Despite an excellent paved highway, Deseado is out of the way but, if you have the time, there’s much more to see – including albatrosses, dolphins and sea lions.

Gentoo Penguins

Gentoos (pictured above) like kings, are not migratory – they remain in the same place all year. Unfortunately for penguin-seekers, those colonies are mostly insular, away from the continent, though there are occasional appearances elsewhere. The likeliest place to see them is on the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, at the historic Estancia Harberton ranch,  where a small colony has established itself on a nearby islet.

An Austral Footnote

More distant and more expensive to reach, the Falkland Islands – still less than two hours from Punta Arenas by air – have almost all the above species and sometimes more. It can also be expensive and time-consuming to get around the archipelago but in just one morning, on a 4WD jaunt just outside the tiny but still sprawling capital of Stanley, I once saw Magellanics, Gentoos, and rockhoppers, plus a single Macaroni (pictured above) and one lonely king. In a small king penguin colony on an outer island, I also saw a vagrant chinstrap penguin - usually seen only in Antarctica.

An Antarctic Footnote

And now for something completely different: even more distant and expensive, Antarctica has many of these species and more. The usual way to reach the frozen continent is with an expensive cruise but, in summer, there are flights from Punta Arenas to Isla Rey Jorge (King George Island), with the possibility of an overnight stay for an introduction to this environmentally strategic destination. I photographed the chinstraps above and the Adelies below there.

Defining Patagonia

As the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer approach, my thoughts turn to Patagonia – I’ll be updating my guidebook to the region later this year - but many of us have only a vague idea what that means. Consequently, I’d like to try to define the region that has stimulated the imagination since Ferdinand Magellan first landed there in the 16th century.

Intending visitors may think first of iconic landscapes like those at Torres del Paine (pictured at top) and the Perito Moreno Glacier (pictured above) but, most broadly, Patagonia comprises much of southernmost South America (mostly Argentina, but also parts of Chile). Its name probably derives from the first aboriginal inhabitants that early explorers encountered – “Patagones,” roughly translated as “people with big feet.” Though its etymology is unclear, this descriptive term for people who dwarfed the Spaniards in stature may have originated with Magellan’s Italian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta.

Hearsay grew that legend, as the 18th-centurty illustration above suggests, but the region’s native people are still a good starting point for defining the region. Until the late 19th century, the Tehuelche, Mapuche, Huilliche, Puelche and other mobile peoples dominated the area south of the Río Colorado (in Argentina) and the Río Biobío (on the Chilean side), and they are still a presence today – most conspicuously in Chile.

Broadly speaking, those boundaries still exist today: by broad consensus, Argentine Patagonia consists of the mainland provinces south of the Colorado - Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut and Santa Cruz - plus its sector of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (the sign in the photo above, taken at the Colorado, says "Patagonia starts here"). Much of this is a “Big Sky Country” – think Montana, but with an Atlantic coastline populated by marine mammals (whales and seals) and penguins.

In Chile, Patagonia traditionally begins at the channels and fjords of the thinly populated and densely forested Aisén region (pictured below) – almost roadless until recently - where ferries and airplanes have long been the main means of transportation. It’s an area that resembles British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle.

Chile’s southernmost region of Magallanes, which includes part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, is indisputably Patagonia, but the more northerly “Lakes District” south of the Biobío has actively embraced the designation – in that sense, “Patagonia” is becoming an informal brand (rather than a line of clothing). In an area resembling Oregon and Washington, this brings the Chilean boundaries more closely in line with those in Argentina, and cross-border travel is routine here.

Geographically, Argentine Patagonia about the same size as Texas or Turkey, and Chilean Patagonia roughly comparable to Germany, but environmentally speaking the differences are striking. As you travel west, Argentine Patagonia’s thinly vegetated steppe (pictured above) turns to southern beech forest as it approaches the relict glacial lakes on both sides of the Andes (as pictured below). Farther south, the steppe becomes Magellanic moorland, while the glaciers and icefields still survive – a great reason to get to know this vast area, but far from the only one.