PENGUINS

Call me silly but the only reason that we went to Punta Arenas, Chile was - penguin colonies. I think that these animals are so cute that i even dressed my groom as one for the wedding. Didn't he look charming?

Anyway near Punta Arenas there are penguins living in the ir natural habitat in two major spots: Isla Magdalena and Seno Otway.The Magdalena is a sanctuary that holds about 50 thousand penguins and can be only visited from a boat. I so wanted to be there... We even moved our flights as we realized that we were running late with sightseeing the southern part of this continent. However, the day when we were scheduled to take a boat out there the whole port closed due to strong winds. We could not argue much as even walking to the travel agency was a strain, since the winds were clocking at 120 km/hr... Luckily there was the back up option of going to Seno Otway which at this point holds close to 10 thousands of the beautiful Magellan penguins, about an hour outside of town. When we got there I could not believe how lucky things have turned out.There was so many penguins and we could see them from as close as 2 feet. Absolutely amazing!!!! These little creatures can really move ones heart. It was so so wonderful to see them walk around, swim, call on one another, feed the young ones, care for one another... Beautiful, unforgettable experience... I felt like a little girl spying on these cutsy birds, talking to them, mimicking their walk... They are SO cute! It was also awesome to come back home to a log cabin where our new friend Mauricio and our new Chilean grandma talked with us about life and all till late hours of the night over some hot tea, on leather couches, by the wooden stove... Mauricio not only gave us a lift to and from town, he also brought us to the airport and personally made sure that all was on-time with our flight. It felt more like we were being taken care of by a family than a place to stay for a night...Casa Desconsada was really a case and a well-worth splurge! Oh - foodwise - seafood soups are consistently awesome in Chile! And even the cheapest Chilean wine (yes - we even tried the box type) beat any Peruvian and Bolivian want to be wines.... Argentinian Malbec though still has a special spot on my pallet...