Punta Tombo is the little cousin of Peninsula Valdes and home to one of the largest colonies of Magellan penguins in the world. The 3 km Peninsula juts out from the Argentine mainland about 100 km south of Valdes. Much of it is covered by a very fine compacted sand, huge swathes of which are dotted with mini mines made by the millions of Penguin families that stop on Tombo each year to lay their eggs.
The male penguins arrive first, in March, to air out and tidy up the nest which the same family use from one generation to the next. In October the female lays two eggs and for around forty days the parents, like all good modern families, take turns to sit on them and look for food. By April the chicks have learned to swim and are able to feed themselves in time to start their great journey across the Atlantic.
Tombo is also home to a variety of other marine bird life including: steamer ducks, oyster catchers and even the mythical Albatross glides in from the Atlantic to make the occasional appearance.
