12/8: 416 years after the penguins' revenge

Gaiman to Camarones

In 1592 the Desire's "sailors clubbed 20'000 penguins to death. As they had no natural enemies and were unafraid of their murderers. John Davis ordered the penguins dried and salted and stowed 14'000 in the hold." (B. Chatwin, In Patagonia, chapter 45).

Punta Tombo is where you get to see more Magellanic penguins - than you would think. You arrive at the entry point of the reserve and park. You walk up a trail marked with white stones to the left and right and you are not supposed to step outside the trail (Claudio tried and was instantly attacked by a penguin, well no, by a guardaparque (Park Ranger)). Then you get up a hill and you see the first few penguins, some with their chicks. As photographer you through yourself into the dust and start clicking away. Only later you realize that these were just the samplers, because there are more than 100'000 hatching here. It's really funny to see them walking around, hopping up a rock, jumping down a ledge and basically falling down on their bellies. Then they get to the shore (some need to walk at least a kilometer from their nest) and once they are in their element the become those agile animals that playfully swim in the waves before they disappear to hunt - you definitively wouldn't want to be pecked with their peckers!

A little late we arrive in Camarones, known as the Nation's Capital of Salmon and the birthplace of the Perón family clan. It's a quiet nest reached from the North by a gravel road, left westwards on asphalt. The tourist information is again friendly but not really helpful. But as one of the two hotels is fully booked by workers (petrol industry) we pick the other one. All tiptop.

We rush probably to the biggest highlight of the town: the natural reserve of Cabo dos Bahías. We just arrive when the ranger is about to close it (8pm). But he lets us in anyway :-) and tells us we could also have had shelter and food at the club nautico in the park...
We are alone in the park. You hear the penguins from far as the sounds they make is very similar to donkeys. And there are about 50'000 in numbers. I think they are much more active now and we happily click away undisturbed by other visitors (but always within the limits!). A second great experience of the day.

Back at the hotel it's time for ... steak, whereas Claudio opts for salmon. Both excellent.

If you want to know how the penguins took revenge some 400 years ago: "In them (the penguins) bred a 'loathsome worme' about an inch long. The worms ate everything, iron only excepted - clothes, bedding, boots, hats, leather lashings, and live human flesh. The worms gnawed through the ship's side and threatened to sink her. The more worms the men killed, the more they multiplied." - For the rest of the story of the sailors read the book...