Perils of Polly: Swimming with Magellanic penguins
Argentina is long. Very long. Miles and miles of paved highway on flat land. First the land was covered with crops and cattle. Then it degenerated into semi-arid scrubland. But every single mile along Route 3 was fenced -- with expensive fencing.
Despite the monotony of driving, today was a day for excitement, for we were to see our first penguins. That was one of the main reasons for coming to Argentina. We left the pavement and crawled along a dusty, gravel road around the Peninsula Valdes. We got our first glimpse of guanacos, a llama-type creature which lives throughout Patagonia, and rheas or nandus, which are speedy, ostrich-type flightless birds. Then we ventured down a tiny dirt track which widened into a cliff top where we could look down and see hundreds of elephant seals basking on the beach. Down the road a bit further, we saw a burrowing owl. We were pretty pumped.
Finally we followed the signs to the Magellanic penguins. We thought we would have to view them from a distance, but to our surprise, they were hanging out right at the pull out -- babies and adults. Plus there were a lot at the gravel beach walking, standing, and swimming. How fun to watch these black and white creatures with their stiff-legged waddle! We had really scored in wildlife viewing today.
A group of South Africans endured months of Saharan treks and stiff diplomacy to claim the near-mythic Barbary Ostrich from French West Africa. They then sold the birds' exclusive and expensive plumes to milliners across America and Europe.
built up a massive international reputation, especially in America and Mexico, but in her native Britain she was comparatively neglected — last year saw the first major exhibition of her work in Britain for 20 years — despite her