Today our hostess, Jenny drove us to the north end of the island to see the rockhopper penguins at their nesting sites. The tour also stopped at a memorial to a British frigate that was sunk just offshore by the Argentines during the 1982 war. Some spectacular vertical cliffs nearby challenged the nimble rockhoppers during their climb up to their nests.
The weather which was in the low 60's F or about 17 C was the warmest of the tour.
In the afternoon we were treated to a spectacular show by the local pod of orcas which had made a kill of either a young elephant seal or a penguin, which caused a feeding frenzy amongst the orcas and also attracted a large number of skuas, gulls and giant petrels. This all took place only a couple hundred yards offshore.
At the same beach area there is a large nesting colony of the dapper looking dolphin gulls and a few brown hooded gulls. Oyster catchers are frequently encountered along the beach and this season there are young ones scampering around in the seaweed and beach stones. The adults can be quite aggressive when they feel threatened by beach goers.
One day while on Sea Lion a large search and rescue helicopter from MPA landed to let off about 20 day trippers for an unguided tour of the island. The island hostess has a good rapport with the military staff at MPA as they are able to offer mutual assistance at times.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.