Audience with the King Penguins in the Bahia Inùtil

The alarm clock rings at 6:30 a.m. The friendly homeowner is already waiting for us with breakfast. Then we will from minibus from the tour operator Laguna Azul. A real glorious day awaits us with bright sunshine and unexpectedly mild temperatures, but accompanied by one icy piping.

The brand new ferry takes us over the rough Magellan Strait to Provenir, the largest Chilean city on Tierra del Fuego. Whereby the city seems almost exaggerated, with less than 6000 inhabitants. The name Tierra del Fuego Incidentally, comes from the famous Navigator Ferdinand Magellanswho discovered the strait named after him Fire of the indigenous people the island saw.

In Porvenir, where many Croatian descendants have lived since the gold rush, we are equipping it Museo Fernando Cordero Rusque a short visit. The exhibits worth seeing such as photographs of the exterminated Selk'nam Indians, pictures and objects of the first white settlers as well as stuffed animals of the local fauna should be presented in a more beautiful way.

The Selk'nam were nomadic hunters and one of the four peoples of the Tierra del Fuego indigenous people. As a result of colonization and settlement, a large part of the Selk'nam were killed - sometimes violently. The Selk'nam did not accept the farms and preferred to hunt their sheep. The conflict escalated at the end of the 19th century when a bonus was suspended for every Indian shot down. A measles epidemic in 1925 and other introduced pathogens killed most of the survivors. Until the last Selk'nam died in 1974 and with it the culture of an entire people.

After a short walk through the simple houses of Porvenir, we continue on a gravel road towards the actual destination of the excursion. Are on the way several times Guanacos to be seen in the fenced, dry bush and grassland, which is mainly used for sheep farming. A little further we can be a real one Gaucho watch at work. In the Bahia Inùtil The only king penguin colony on the South American mainland awaits us, although Tierra del Fuego is also an island.

The frugal birds defy the worst conditions in colonies on sub-Antarctic islands. Only in the last few years has a growing colony settled here on the remote west coast of Tierra del Fuego currently almost 100 animals counts. And of course it immediately became a tourist attraction. The area on private land was also called Parque Pinguino Rey placed under protection and a handsome entry fee of 12,000 CLP per person is required.

A few meters from the coast on a lagoon stand the black and white drawn birds with their distinctive orange beak and defy it merciless, hurricane wind. We take our pictures of the first group from a distance of 20 m under the protection of a wooden wall. A large part of the colony stands and lies here. Mainly adults and some young animals. A few meters away from the beach there are a dozen or so teenagers. The cold, unyielding wind makes photography a real challenge. It's hard to imagine what it would be like here when the weather is not so nice during the winter months. Goes after just under an hour another unforgettable experience over, but the tour continues.

We're heading north across the island. Again we see herds of guanacos and sheep, as well as a fox. We make one last short stop before we take the ferry back to the mainland. The long journey ends at half past nine in the evening, when night is slowly falling and we go to bed after this long and interesting day.