From the tourist office in La Serena we were given the number of a company that would provide transfers to Punto Choros. Punto Choros is a beach located 1.5 hours from La Serena where a small colony of Humboldt penguins reside. Josh made the phone call and arranged the transfer for the four of us.
We were picked up in the morning and made it to Punto Choros by early afternoon. We checked into a lovely Cabana (Amarilis Cabanas) owned by a charming Chilean couple. Shortly thereafter we headed to the dock to check on Penguin tours. We were able to get on a tour quickly. We ordered shrimp and cheese empanadas for lunch, bought some bottled water and boarded the boat.
The tour lasted about four hours. We saw a variety of birds native to the area before arriving to the island. Curious dolphins jumped along side the boat. We visited two islands, Isla Damas and Isla Choros. We didn't see a huge number of penguins but the 20 or so that we saw were on the first island that was restricted from landing on. An enormous colony of Sea Lions was the highlight of the trip for me. They played in the water together, slipping off the rock and jumping back up. The shear number of them was astounding.
After the tour we made some pasta, taught the girls cribbage and shared some wine in the cabana. The next two days we spent relaxing on the beach, playing cards in the cabana and eating tasty cheese & seafood empanadas. Josh, Katie and I rented kayaks for a few hours on one sunny morning. Katie and I were a bit nervous to try sea-kayaking, but it went well and we had a great time.
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