After stretching my legs on land (and by canoe) the previous day I thought it was finally time to get on the water and see some penguins. I love penguins, and seeing loads of them over the next two weeks would be a highlight of this trip to me. I decided to do a half day trip on the Beagle Canal, which lasted from about 9:00am to about 2:00pm.

After leaving the port, our first stop was to an island full of birds. There were loads of them, all sea birds. We spent some time taking some photos from the decks of the ship, and with the wind it was pretty cold. This was also a great opportunity for me to try out my new Cannon camera and its lenses.

After the bird island we made our way to an island full of seals. Again, there were loads of them. Some were gingerly climbing out of the water and onto the rocks. While clumsy and slow on land, they are surprisingly nimble enough to maneuver themselves up the rocks… tricky business. There were some alpha seals on the rocks, too, and there would roar up every now and then. Their size was noticeably bigger than the rest of the seals.

After visiting the seal island we had a long stretch of the canal leading past the 2Lighthouse at the End of the World”. I believe this is a misnomer, and in fact a replica of another lighthouse, but is was still neat to see. There were a number of little islands in the middle of the canal, some with seals and birds, and this lighthouse would be indispensable in preventing ships from crashing upon them in the night or in treacherous conditions.

Last, but not least, was my favorite part of the trip… the penguins! They were everywhere… on the beach, in the water, and up on the hill on the shore, etc… They are adorable little guys. The ship landed right up on the shore, in two different locations, to give us time to observe and photograph them. There was another trip which allowed you to walk around the island among the penguins, but I did not realize that this was a possibility when I booked my trip… next time. I am also banking on the fact that I will get to spend lots of time with them once in Antarctica.

After some time with the penguins we made our way all the way back, past the lighthouse, seals and birds, to the port in Ushuaia. It was a lovely trip and a nice first taste of things to come once I embark on my expedition to Antarctica.