Group of Magellanic penguins walking on the beach, with a King penguin standing behind them.

Saunders Island: The Perfect End to Our Expedition

The Grand Finale

In the afternoon, we made our way to Saunders Island. Another wet zodiac ride brought us ashore, where we encountered a massive gentoo penguin colony right at the landing site.
Ship anchored offshore near a colony of penguins on a rocky beach with distant mountains under a cloudy sky.
Walking a bit farther, we discovered grazing sheep and Magellanic penguins burrowing into the hillside. The orange route markers made it resemble a poorly maintained golf course.
A remote, grassy hillside with scattered penguins and a small wooden building in the distance under an overcast sky.
A hilly landscape with scattered penguins and sheep grazing on patches of green grass.
A sheep approaches a penguin resting in a burrow on grassy terrain.
An adult Magellanic penguin stands beside its fluffy chick near a burrow in the grass.
Close-up of a Magellanic penguin with its eyes closed, standing upright with one flipper extended.
Higher up the hill, a colony of black-browed albatrosses awaited us.
Black-browed albatross with wings spread, descending toward a rocky ledge near the ocean.
Two black-browed albatrosses touching beaks affectionately near the ocean.
Fluffy black-browed albatross chicks resting in mud nests on grass.
This hike was special because, for the first time, we were allowed to sit down among the colonies. The courting albatrosses put on quite a show, their calls eerily resembling someone tuning an oboe.

We also spent a lot of time watching the rockhopper penguins.
Close-up of a Southern rockhopper penguin standing on green grass.
Group of fluffy penguin chicks huddled together in a rookery.
Close-up of a rockhopper penguin with distinctive red eyes and spiky yellow head feathers.
Rockhopper penguin standing on a grassy slope with spiky yellow feathers and red eyes.
We had to be mindful of the penguin highways here too, but it was so nice to be able to sit and observe.

 

 

After exploring the hills, we walked down to a pristine white sand beach, where king and gentoo penguins mingled along the shore.
Colony of penguins gathered on a rocky hillside overlooking a vast, sandy beach and calm turquoise waters.
Three Magellanic penguins standing on a sandy slope near coastal vegetation with yellow flowers.
Two King penguins standing on a grey sandy beach, facing each other with their yellow-orange neck markings prominent.
Close-up of a Gentoo penguin standing on a sandy beach with another penguin blurred in the background near the shore.
A Gentoo penguin emerging from the ocean, splashing through the shallow waves onto the shore.
It was the ultimate ending to our second “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to Antarctica—an unforgettable day filled with breathtaking landscapes and intimate wildlife encounters, making it bittersweet to leave this remarkable corner of the world.
30 hours later, we were back in Ushuaia. So the question, will we be back?
A smiling couple poses in front of the "Ushuaia fin del mundo" sign, marking their visit to the southernmost city in the world.
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