Find Your Way: El Fin del Mundo

We are at the height of summer and there is sunlight for more than 17 hours while in winter, light (not direct sun) only lasts for about 7 hours.
December and January bring long days, and it is very common not to notice how late it is: the sun is still shining, and we suddenly feel hungry and realize the time it is 10 pm and we have not eaten since lunch!

A. Ushuaia B. Ruta J out to Estancia Harberton and overlooking the Beagle Channel. Took a boat to Isla Martillo to see the penguins. C. Tierra del Fuego - the very end of the road! D. Camping spot and hill sprints at the Atlantic Ocean. E. Penguin breeding grounds. F. Ferry crossing at Bahía Azul G. Back to Puerto Natales, ready for Torres del Paine!

El Fin del Año (The End of the Year) at El Fin del Mundo (The End of the World). We actually spent New Years Eve in Tierra del Fuego! How cool is that!!! Stunning hikes and awe at this amazing place were our events and feelings to end and begin 2014 and 2015 with.

Interesting side note on this period - as we were hiking back to our camp spot from the end of the road, we passed another couple hiking along. Smiled, said "Hola" and walked on. Suddenly, a voice calls out from behind us and asks, "Excuse me, but if you don't mind me asking, are you Lisa Ray?" What??? Seriously? I must have looked completely loony in my incredulity. After I dumbfoundedly confirmed he was correct, he proceeded to explain that he follows our blog and had once emailed me for information about the company who shipped our van from L.A. to Chile. He just happened to recognize me from our blog. So crazy!! We have since crossed paths with Wolf and Caroline in Puerto Natales and ended camping with them and hiking with them through Torres del Paine! So amazing! New and wonderful friends, crossing paths so fortuitiously!

Nature in all it's aspects can be beautiful. We saw so much of this fascinating fungus all through the trees in Tierra del Fuego. What we read says it doesn't affect the long-term health of the tree, but what I saw seemed to tell a different story. The trees looked like they were not doing well. It is called Darwin's fungus and is a parasitic, golf ball-like fungus that was named in honor of Charles Darwin, who collected it in Tierra del Fuego during his voyage on HMS Beagle in 1832.

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PENGUINS! Hooray! In Ushuaia, our drive North in Tierra del Fuego, and on the Atlantic Coast of Argentina, we have been able to observe these entertaining creatures in their summer breeding grounds. We have seen 3 different types of penguins in these places.

The Magellanic penguin is a small to medium sized species of penguin found inhabiting the rocky islands off the coast of Argentina and southern Chile and on the Falkland islands further south. The Magellanic penguin is most closely related to the African penguin, the Galapagos penguin and the Humboldt penguin which it is similar in appearance to, but they are distinguished by having the 2 stripes across their chest. The Magellanic penguin spends the majority of it's time hunting for food in the surrounding ocean, coming onto land to nest in large colonies on the beaches. The male and female take turns minding the nest and babies, and going out to feed. They are monogamous and return to the same nest every year. The males go first, and the females find their mate by their individual calls - which I could personally not distinguish as different between all the various birds, but they can tell!

They breed in burrows where digging is possible, otherwise on the surface of the ground or under bushes. Colonies form in a variety of habitats from low forests to grassland to bare rocks, often on islands or headlands. These were the most common penguins we saw in Patagonia.

Much less common to see were the Gentoo penguins, but we got to see a few in Ushuaia. The forward penguin is a King penguin who insisted on being in the photo with the Gentoo's! The Gentoo's are seen most commonly on the ice in Antarctica and less so on their mainland and island breeding areas, likely due to pollution and disrupted fisheries. We felt so lucky to see this small group mixing it up with the other species!

The King penguins (or Rey, in Spanish) are very large compared to other species. It is the second largest of them all, with the Emperor penguins being the largest. The Emperor penguins live solely on ice, so we did not see any of that species. This was an enclave of Kings we discovered on our drive back North, across Tierra del Fuego. So awesome to get the opportunity to see a single colony of this species in their own breeding ground!