P-p-pick Up a Penguin?
Anna Atkinson, Destination Expert.
All the activity at the colony was hard to take in when we made our landing and saw the penguins for the first time. Hundreds of them were scattered all over the beach, struggling up the snowy hill, diving in and out of the water and teasing the huge, and very lazy, Elephant Seals that lay in a disorderly heap on the shore. At first, in spite of their size, they seemed almost invisible lying on top of the grey pebbles (I didn't fancy my chances if I accidentally stepped on one!) until they raised their funny-looking heads to the sky and let out a chorus of incredibly loud belching sounds!
There was so much to see and I was surprised by how friendly the penguins were, inquisitively craning their necks towards me, probably wondering what on earth I was doing there. The noise was incredible: so much going on, as if the penguins were talking to each other. I almost felt I was in the way of their busy routine and should apologise.
The guide pointed us in the direction of another penguin, this one was not like his companions, quite different in his markings and definitely looking rather lost. We had spotted an Emperor Penguin. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the guide explained that this was the first sighting there'd been and how unusual it was to spot an Emperor penguin in these parts.
