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| Penquin Wedding? - Seno Otway, Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
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| Touching Patagon in Plaza Munoz Gamero - Punta Arenas |
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| City Cemetery - Punta Arenas, Chile |
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| Downtown - Punta Arenas, Chile |
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| Penquin Wedding? - Seno Otway, Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
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| Megellanic Penquins in Seno Otway - Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
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| Megellanic Penquins in Seno Otway - Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
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| Nandu in Seno Otway - Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
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| Pat & Wayne - Seno Otway, Tierra del Fuego, Chile |
(2/4/2010)
Welcome to the famous Strait of Magellan.
Check out the photo of the Penguin “wedding” we witnessed here! Read more about this below - what do you think?
It’s pretty cold in Punta Arenas even in their summer. Located in this southern-most area of Chile you find the remote town of Punta Arenas (meaning “sandy point”) on the north coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego.
Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 by Yugoslav settlers and sheep ranchers and sits on rolling hills overlooking the Strait of Magellan.
The harbor, although exposed to storms, was considered one of the most important in Chile before the construction of the Panama Canal, because it was used as a coaling station by the steamships transiting between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the Strait of Magellan.
See more on the Strait of Magellan in our other blog post on Chile: Chile - Strait of Magellan, Cape Horn, Chilean Fjords, & Darwin Beagel Channels.
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| Local Handicrafts - Punta Arenas, Chile |
Since 1986, Punta Arenas has been the first significantly populated city in the world to be directly affected by the hole in the ozone layer, exposing its residents to potentially damaging levels of ultraviolet radiation.
A highlight of our visit to Punta Arenas was our visit to the Otway Sound to view the Magellanic penguin colony (see photos). These penguins live 25-30 years and always come back to the place where they were born for the mating season.
Approaching within a few feet of these birds, we were able to view them nesting in their burrows, walking to the ocean, swimming, etc (see the photos of these cute guys – we like penguins).
Penguin couples remain mated for life and GET
THIS… we believe we witnessed a penguin ‘wedding’ with the young
‘couple’ holding ‘hands’ with a preacher - see what you think from the
photos. They have their tuxes on.
Our
driver told us that we had “bueno suerte" meaning ‘good luck’ because
we had excellent weather and saw penguins, nandus (in the ostrich
family), and condors (see photos).
We also visited the Punta Arenas town center where you find the Plaza Munoz Gamero and the bronze sculpture of Magellan. It is a tradition among sailors who cross the strait for first time to kiss the foot of the Patagon sitting under Magellan… we touched it (see photo).
The Punta Arenas City Cemetery is one of the most unique cemeteries in the world (see photo).
We also visited the Punta Arenas town center where you find the Plaza Munoz Gamero and the bronze sculpture of Magellan. It is a tradition among sailors who cross the strait for first time to kiss the foot of the Patagon sitting under Magellan… we touched it (see photo).
The Punta Arenas City Cemetery is one of the most unique cemeteries in the world (see photo).
Please
also see our 7 other blog posts for beautiful Chile:
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