Excursion: The most inexpensive way to see the king penguins

If you reach Punta Arenas they will offer you an incredibly expensive tour to visit the king penguin colony in the Bahía Inútil (Useless bay).

I forgot the price for it but it’s something around hundred dollars. There is a cheaper way of course. You do it yourself. So if you’re traveling without vehicle and don’t like to hitchhike, here is how to do it. If you want to hitchhike, just do it instead of taking the bus. So make sure to make a reservation of the ferry some days beforehand.

  1. Take the collectivo to the port for 500 Pesos (sorry I forgot the number, it’s already two months ago, but your accommodation should know).
  2. Take the ferry for around 10 Dollars.
  3. Take the taxi to Porvenir and check-in to a hostel for one night (if you hitchhike you can possibly go back at the same day).
  4. Go to Transportes Quelin, which is situated at the corner of Gabriela Mistral and 21 de Mayo, and let the driver know that you want to go to the colony and return with him as well. Transportes Quelin is driving twice a day to Cameron and you can leave the bus at the colony and hop in again. This will cost you around 6 Dollars in total. The bus leaves between half past three and four and you will arrive at half past five at the colony.
  5. At the colony you have exactly an hour until the bus is returning from Cameron. But the colony is anyway only open until six. Make sure you made your reservation at least one day before going. Pay in cash, it’s faster and time is precious. The entrance is around 19 Dollars.

Is it vegan? I wasn’t thinking about that aspect, when I was there, but in my opinion it is eco friendly, because they wont let you in without instructions by the ranger. You are walking then in a fenced area and will be ask to not talk nor being noisy, while watching the free animals from an acceptable distance behind a wooden wall with holes to look through. The penguins did not seem to realize our presence. They were free to move and did so.

I met some disappointed tourists that were sad, that it was not possible to see them nearer. But they forgot that this is a shy wild animal that the foundation wants to protect.

Tip: Bring a camera with a good objective, for awesome photos.

You cannot be disappointed by the view of these lovely birds. Keep in mind why you only can see them from afar and that this is the only colony outside of Antarctica.

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