Cruisin' the Beagle Channel

Ushuaia is the main port for Antarctic departures, and last minute trips are available if there is space. We thought about it, but not for long. Our budget just doesn't stretch that far!!
So instead we hopped onto a boat for a cruise in the Beagle Channel. And were treated to lots of wildlife, beautiful still water, fantastic scenery and a relaxing afternoon.
The pengins down here are Magellanic Penguins, there are approximately 1,800,000 breeding pairs that are only found on the Falkland Islands, in Argentina and Chile. We were also lucky to see some Gentoo Penguins. These guys breed in Sub Antartic regions and on the Antartic Peninsular and have some 320,000 breeding pairs flapping around....
I love the penguins. Which reminds me to post a link to the Yellow Eye Penguin Trust... We were lucky enough to see the Hohiho (their Maori name) Penguins in the wild while we were in New Zealand - they are the worlds rarest Penguin with only 1500 pairs. The trust has recently purchased an additional 12km stretch of land in the Catlins at Long Point to preserve their breeding ground. This makes me Happy.