Update 1

Jenny and I left Rothera on Feb. 15 and flew to Stanley in the Falkland Islands where we had to wait several days for the next flight to Chile (the flights are scheduled only once per week). While there, we visited a King Penguin colony, one of only two or three now present on the Falklands. King penguins were once quite abundant here, but were nearly exterminated for oil in their blubber by whalers and sealers in the early part of this century. In fact, there were probably over 100,000 King penguins here at one time, but by the 1950’s there were only about 50 breeding pair left. Today, there are over a thousand and the species is still recovering. The attached photo shows these penguins at their largest colony at Volunteer Point. The birds in the background, with the bulge at their feet, have small chicks they are protecting. These penguins, like Emperor penguins, do not build nests but hold the egg on their feet during incubation. It takes them over a year to raise the chick to fledging.

We enjoyed our time on the Falklands, hiking to various areas around Stanley. Then we flew to Punta Arenas, Chile, where we took a couple of days to visit one of the many beautiful parks in this country. The park we visited was Torres del Paine, located in Patagonia near the town of Puerta Natales. We rented a car to get there as it is a large park and difficult to see by bus. The scenery is this park is spectacular with high mountains and peaks, interesting rock formations, and glaciers. You also see lots of wildlife here. We saw herds of guanacos, a species of llama, near the park entrance (see attached photo) as well as flocks of Austral parakeets, the only species of parrot to occur in Patagonia. We also saw Chilean flamingos and Black-necked swans in the lakes and, best of all, Andean condors circling high overhead around the mountain peaks. These condors have a wingspan up to 10-12 feet and are relatively abundant in this park. We hiked in the park for two days, then returned to Punta Arenas where we flew back to Santiago where I am writing this update. We return to the states in another day and end our time in the south. After a short visit with family, the next stop is Wilmington where I will share with you more of our experiences in Antarctica. I will look forward to seeing you then!

Steve Emslie

See if you can spot the llama click on photo to take a closer look

Questions, Comments
email David Hughes, djh6183@uncwil.edu
Last updated February 29, 2000