Distance to Otaway Penguins

[2travelers]

Hi: Can anyone out there tell me how far the walk is from the van/bus/car to the Penguin Reserve in Otway - Puntas Arenas? When I inquired from private tour guides I was told that it was about 100-200 meters. Now I read on this board (posted last summer) from a tour guide that the walk can take over an hour. I booked a private tour but was concerned that my husband would not be able to make the distance. I knew that 100-200 meters is really not that far and he would be able to manage it. Now I am having second thoughts - is the walk more tha an hour? He could stay in the car if that is the case, or we could just skip the Penguin Reserve.....what do you think?

Ronnie

[sle]

Hi: Can anyone out there tell me how far the walk is from the van/bus/car to the Penguin Reserve in Otway - Puntas Arenas? When I inquired from private tour guides I was told that it was about 100-200 meters. Now I read on this board (posted last summer) from a tour guide that the walk can take over an hour. I booked a private tour but was concerned that my husband would not be able to make the distance. I knew that 100-200 meters is really not that far and he would be able to manage it. Now I am having second thoughts - is the walk more tha an hour? He could stay in the car if that is the case, or we could just skip the Penguin Reserve.....what do you think?

Ronnie

 

I took the tour in 2003 and what I remember about it follows. The walk from parking lot to penguin colony is about a 1/4 mile each way. Once at the colony, you can walk any distance you want to view the penguins. You are hiking on an even path/boardwalk, so it is easy. Take raincoat/windbreaker as it is quite windy. Round trip, if you don't tarry, would take approximately 1 hour or a little more. You can also walk to a observation tower, but it is a long, windy hike and not that interesting.

We are returning in Feb. and this time my husband is going to colony with me as I told him it is not to be missed.

sle

[phlewt]

We took the tour in 2004. One of the people in our party required a wheel chair, and they were able to arrange to have one available for that person. If you book a private tour, check and see if the tour operator can make satisfactory arrangements.

[Keith1010]

If you do the entire walk and that is from the parking lot to the penguins and all around (it's a circular walk) I would estimate that it is about one mile. But, you don't have do go the entire way. You could just do a portion of it and just turn around. We had people of all ages on the tour and a couple had wheelchairs and walkers.

 

Keith

[2travelers]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of your positve responses. I thought that the walk wan't too bad from the quesions I asked the tour company. My husband still needs a walker if we are touring, but I was very concerned that it would be way to far and the terrain too rugged for him to use a walker. Somewhere, I read that the walk took over an hour. While he can do short distances, walking over two hours to and from a vehicle is just too much. Now I can keep my reservations as is and feel comfortable with our plans. We certainly don't have to walk the entire length of the colony...just enough to get up close and personal with the little guys and gals. I am trying to make up for deleting all the penguin photos I lost duing our trip to Australia....new camera and hit the wrong button :eek: I will never live that down.......

Thanks again,

Ronnie

[Aussie Gal]

2Travelers,

 

If the wind is blowing very strongly, and it certainly did the day we were there, then the walk does take longer. It is a very exposed area and even though you walk on boardwalks, it was hard to keep oneself upright.

 

We did the entire circuit at a fast pace so therefore it didn't take too long about three quarters of an hour. Of course, it does depend on how long you stop to look at the penguins. We also went as far to the beach as possible and didn't miss anything. It was well worth seeing them as we had missed out on two ports - Puerto Madryn and the Falkland Islands due to bad weather, so we were all dying to see them up close and weren't disappointed.

 

They are bigger than the fairy penquins at Phillip Island by the way.

 

Jennie

[dileep]

2Travelers,

 

If the wind is blowing very strongly, and it certainly did the day we were there, then the walk does take longer. It is a very exposed area and even though you walk on boardwalks, it was hard to keep oneself upright.

Jennie

 

It was very windy and cold when we were there too, but worth the visit!

[Keith1010]

And the key is to come prepared. Yes, it will likely be windy and cold. We wore our North Face Jackets with Fleece underneath, a hat, gloves, waterproof pants, and a scarf so we were well prepared and we took in this wonderful area. I am so happy that we had the opportunity to see the penguins here. I have videos from this excursion and when we go back to watch them from time to time it reminds me of how much we enjoyed this excursion.

 

Keith

[cruisingrandy]

We just did this tour yesterday 11-14-2007. It is about an hour drive and not worth the trip. Very few penguins there. The only reason we went was that our Magdalena Island tour got cancelled at the last minute. Oh well we have seen many penguins on past S.A. cruises and Punta Madryn trip is much better

[Keith1010]

We saw the Penguins in late January. I will tell you that there were tens of hundreds there. The time of year is a major factor. But what we saw was amazing.

 

Keith

[2travelers]

We saw the Penguins in late January. I will tell you that there were tens of hundreds there. The time of year is a major factor. But what we saw was amazing.

 

Keith

 

Hi Keith: We will be going in March and I think we get to Otway around the 14th. Since it is one of our last ports I am hoping that we will have seen the penguins in other ports... we have scheduled a tour so I guess we can always change plans. I think that with the weather being so dicey - that I would just book the rookeries in all of the ports and hope for the best. I seem to read that although Punta Tomba is bigger, that this one is wonderful as well. The previous post was the first one I have seen that said there were hardly any penguins around. I hope we won't be disappointed...I always thought that January through March was the time to go. Hey - at this point just being away sounds awfully good to me. Thank you all for your wonderful advice.

Ronnie

[Keith1010]

Ronnie, here is a URL for a writeup on the area. It notes that the peak time for viewing the Penguins is November through February. But I'm sure these dates aren't 100% cast in stone and there is some variance on either end of the dates.

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/puntaarenas/2351010011.html

 

Keith

[Aussie Gal]

We saw the penguins towards the end of January last year and we saw hundreds. We missed out on both Puerto Madryn and the Falklands due to bad weather, so this was our last chance of seeing them and we were not disappointed at all. We felt it was well worth the drive. I think the entire ship ended up doing this excursion over the whole day. I know when we went in the afternoon, there were 12 buses!! Luckily we were on the first bus and so had the place to ourselves for quite some time as our bus got away quite quickly from the port.

 

Jennie

[Keith1010]

I am glad that Jennie had the same type of experience that we did with this excursion. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We were fortunate that earlier this year that we had good weather in the Falkland Islands for our tender over to this area. We also saw the Penguines there. While we enjoyed that excursion as well, we enjoyed the Penguins at Ottway Bay a good deal better.

 

Keith

[2travelers]

I am glad that Jennie had the same type of experience that we did with this excursion. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We were fortunate that earlier this year that we had good weather in the Falkland Islands for our tender over to this area. We also saw the Penguines there. While we enjoyed that excursion as well, we enjoyed the Penguins at Ottway Bay a good deal better.

 

Keith

 

Thanks for the link to Frommers, Keith. I did check there and they say that while you can see the penguins from Ocober to March, by the middle of March most have packed up and moved north! So, we may not get to see as many as we hoped to. As my dear daughter would say "well, it is what it is :p ". I hope for the best -weather wise and penguin wise.

Ronnie

[Aussie Gal]

We were fortunate that earlier this year that we had good weather in the Falkland Islands for our tender over to this area. We also saw the Penguines there. While we enjoyed that excursion as well, we enjoyed the Penguins at Ottway Bay a good deal better.

 

Keith

 

I am happy to hear you say that the penguins were not as good in the Falklands as at Otway Bay. One of the reasons we chose our cruise - it was on the Regal Princess - was that it would visit the Falklands on our way south down to Antarctica subject of course to weather. We struck a bad day there and had to continue on but were lucky once we reached the Peninsula down south.

 

I have always regretted missing those islands and not seeing their penguins plus of course missing the islands in general knowing their history.

 

Jennie

[Keith1010]

Ronnie, I do hope that the penguins are there when you visit so that you can enjoy the excursion.

 

Jennie, while we enjoyed the Falkland Islands, I truly enjoyed the Penguins much more in Chile.

 

Keith

[cookiersmom]

Hi

I saw that you went to Otway two days ago instead of Magdelena island, but that you have been to SA before. Had you been to Magdelena island? Can you compare the two at all?

thanks

[Marie-Claude]

As you can see in the picture below, the circular walk is about 1.5 km which is about 1 mile (click on the pic to make it bigger).

 

As everyone said, it is extremely windy which make the mile seem a lot longer.

 

We were there at the end of February and saw about 12 penguins... needless to say most were very disappointed!!

 

 

MC