Last year, Flat Hal and Flat Stanley saw Gentoo and King Penguins in the Falkland Islands. This year Flat Hal and Flat Halena signed up for a longer tour, in a 4×4 vehicle that went off road.
It took them to see FIVE different kinds of penguins!
Can you see the trail for our vehicles in the wide shot?
We took a closer shot to make it easier to find. The path doesn’t go straight. It weaves between holes, ponds, and places that are simply too soft to drive on. Sometimes a vehicle sinks in, gets stuck, and another one attaches a winch to pull their friend out. All the drivers stop to help.
The Flat Friends went ashore in the Falkland Islands excited to see penguins! It was a long drive to the penguin colony, at least in terms of time. We started on tarmac (pavement), transitioned to gravel as we left the city, then went “off road” and “cross country” bumping our way to the coast to visit the penguins where they live. Other passengers went to a Penguin Rookery.
The penguin colony (the group of birds) travels to the rookery (the specific beach or hillside) every year to lay their eggs.
Colony = The population of birds.
Rookery = The real estate where they build their nests
After three hours, nearly two hours of which was spent bumping along, we made a very important first stop. We could see it as we drove through the water.
At the top of the hill was a tiny building with a small room with a sink attached to an equally small bathroom. Thirty people patiently lined up for their turn… and spent their free time gazing down at the beach we were headed for.
A colony of Gentoo penguins was on the hill, posing as we headed up. They didn’t seem sorry to see us head back down. A Magellanic was relaxing in front of their burrow.
The Flat Friends were excited to start seeing penguins.
Who knew a pit stop could be scenic!
The view down to the ocean was so incredible, at first, they overlooked the Magellanic penguin outside its burrow.
Hard to believe the black and white acts as camouflage, but it does!
A powerful zoom lens (125x) meant they could give the animals their space, and get unbelievable photos.
There’s more to tell… but this has already been a long entry. How about we pause here, and enjoy this before we share more?
