One of the things I like doing is meeting penguins. They're pretty good fun, and better company than some humans I know! I've been to penguin colonies in southern Chile and on the Falkland Islands, and I've seen penguins pottering about around the Antarctic Peninsula. I guess the Falklands is the most accessible place to go and visit penguins - the best places for penguins I found there were Saunders Island, Sea Lion Island and Volunteer Point. If you go I suggest you use Tenacrestours to get to Volunteer Point.

There are 17 species of penguin. I've met 5 of them...Kings, Rockhoppers, Adelies, Magellanics and Gentoos. Gentoos are pretty timid, but I did have one of my best penguin experiences with them. Kings look incredibly beautiful, but came across as a bit aloof and superior, as though like a glamorous model they're aware of how good they look. Adelies and Rockhoppers were the best fun...their eyes make them incredibly photogenic and they have enough of an attitude to be curious about humans. Magellanics I'm not that fussed about. They're not quite penguiny enough for me, but they do have a nice smile...they seem to have an almost saintly expression when smiling.

The colonies are great to visit, but make sure you don't get too close and scare the penguins, especially if they are sat on eggs...if you scare a penguin off it's nest a predator could nip in and steal the egg. Similarly if you meet a penguin on a beach, don't get between the penguin and the sea, or cut off a penguins route to his/her colony - would you like someone blocking your way home or to food you want on a supermarket aisle?

The trick with penguins appears to be to sit still and wait for their natural curiosity to come into play...if they're curious enough they'll come to you. That said, if they're busy, or nesting they're unlikely to make too much effort to take notice of you!

Here are some good penguin links I've found:
pinguins.info - lots of information about penguin species etc.
Annemarie's Pinguinweb - Dutch site about penguins.
Official IPCWG Guide to Penguins - the International Penguin Conservation Work Group's website.
Pete and Barb's Penguin Pages - lots more penguin info.
Links to more penguin pages - speaks for itself really!
Mike Bingham has written two books about penguins. His website is well worth looking at. There's loads of info about penguins there.

Obviously there's loads more penguin pages on the web, but I've not started to look that closely yet!

Anyway, enough rabbit, this is what you really want - here are some of my better penguin photos. Click on the photo to make it bigger!
 

Dan Suri, 13 December 2006. Click here to go back to my home page and click  to email me.