Punta Tombo and... half a million penguins!

Every year, along with the warm and longer days of Spring, the penguins arrive at the Patagonia coasts in the Chubut province. This special report will help you make the most of your visit to the land of the Elegant Gentlemen

Punta Tombo is the most important Magellan Penguins colony within Patagonia. Half a million of them arrive at this place every year in order to breed.

The first penguins arrive in September and stay here up to mid March but the best season to see them is after November, once the babies are born.

One of the greatest features of this Reservation is the fact that you can literally walk among the penguins, follow them and learn their habits, see how they feed their babies, the rites of pairing, the fights for the defense of their territories, how they build their nests, and the restless walks they take to and from the sea. In other words, you can closely watch these tender little animals like you never imagined you could...

There is one requisite: even if you are inches away from a penguin, you must never touch or bother it. You must not forget (not even for a moment) that you are inside a fauna reservation, a special place devoted to preserve this species and its natural habitat. Besides, although penguins are harmless and they are not aggressive at all, if they feel threatened they will defend themselves with their strong, sharp beak.

This fauna reservation was created in 1979, by means of a decree of the Chubut Province, with the purpose of protecting one of the sites with the most diverse fauna within Argentina, and the greatest continental Magellan Penguins colony.

General Features

Punta Tombo is surrounded by the typical lonesome and arid landscapes of the Patagonia Plateau. But its emptiness is just an illusion; if you learn to observe in detail, you will discover all the life wealth hidden in its bushes and under the endless looking sky. Of course, there are also lambs (typical Patagonian livestock), as well as guanacos and choiques (ostriches), maras (Patagonian hares), foxes, and martinetas.

Once you start getting closer to the coast, you will be surprised by a hectic fauna activity. This rocky territory hosts a great quantity of sea birds: southern seagulls, skúas, royal and black necked cormorants, Antarctic pigeons and petrels. Also, these coasts are frequently visited by sea lions as well as the southern whales, dolphins and orcas.

Inside the reservation

Entrance to the penguins colony is via the Gendarmerie booth, where the route ends. There, you pay the entrance fee and you can obtain information about the different paths available and the behavior you must stick to when close to the penguins. There is a small service area available where you can get beverages and food, as well as use the bathrooms.

The parking lot is located within the reservation so, special care must be taken when driving those few meters. You are already in the penguins' home!

Once in the paths area, you will see that the zone open for public access is clearly delimited by a wire netting. Do not trespass it!. Also, you have to be specially careful with the penguin nests, which are excavations they make between the bushes and the sides of the paths. The penguin families are generally under those bushes but also walk around everywhere going to and coming from the sea, in order to get the food and nourish their babies, who wait in the nests.

All the place is well signaled with bilingual (Spanish-English) notices that serve as a guide and also describe the penguins in depth.

How to get there?

You can hire an excursion from the cities of Puerto Madryn, Trelew or Rawson.

If not, you can go with your own car, again departing from any of the aforementioned cities. From Puerto Madryn (the farthest of the three), you must drive National route 3 (paved) up to Trelew (67 Km.) then take Prov. Route 25, up to Rawson (paved too) where, at 7 Km. you get to the crossing with prov. Route 1, that leads to Punta Tombo. This last part is 107 Km. and it is a gravel road so, although it is well maintained during the penguins season, special care must be taken when driving along these type of routes, respecting the speed limit of 60 Km./h.

This route traverses many "estancias". So you must remember it is private property.

The journey demands from 90 to 120 minutes, one way. You have to get enough petrol and bring some water with you before you leave since you will not be able to spot a single place to get that otherwise. It is highly recommended that you start early in the morning in order to make the most of the day. You should devote a full day for this tour since the driving part of it is rather tiresome.

However, and since they are located very close to the routes you will drive along when returning, you should not miss a visit to Trelew as well as a great Welsh Tea at one of the many tea houses available at Gaiman, the place the Welsh chose to settle at, many years ago (when escaping from the English).

In order to see a distances chart between this area and other parts of Argentina, as well as the climate highlights, please see Puerto Madryn.

Where to stay?

We recommend that you sleep either at Trelew or Puerto Madryn. From any of them, you will be able to perform this and many other excursions.