Reserva nacional Pinguino de Humboldt
This national reserve is a great place to see some rare sea animals and be one with the nature. It was a long and memorable day.
How did we get there?
Last time we went to La Serena, we spent the night at hostel El Arbol. A tour guide lying in the common area had information about how to go to the reserve via local bus. So we took a bus at 3am from Copiapo to La Serena, reached Serena at 8 and went to panaderia Los Griegos. The local bus to Punta Choros started right at 9 o’ clock from the panaderia.
Isla Choros
Our bus arrived at Punta Choros at 11am and the moment we got down from the bus, a tour guide approached us. The rates for the boat tours to the islands are pretty standard and required no second thoughts. The waters, even near the shore, were so clean — love the eco-consciousness of the tour agencies out here!
No one is allowed to get down on the Isla Choros — because this is the home for Humboldt penguins and these penguins are also called suicidal penguins — the moment they see humans near them, they get so scared that they jump into water right away. All these nice facts were shared by our tour guide who spoke such good English.
We spent some good amount of time at Isla Choros. Our guide saw some dolphins and we went after them. Then the dolphins started moving with our boat and we could see them moving right under the boat for 15–20 mins!
Then, we went to the area on the island which is home of the sea lions. The sea lions were trying to gather some warmth in the open. In the home, we saw a male lion with his harem and a baby lion sucking milk from his mother.
Isla Damas
Next we went to Isla Damas and got down on the island. Here tourists get an hour to just walk around and enjoy the beauty. CONAF has created a walking trail on the island with info stations about the flora, fauna and the landscape.
It was a quick return on the boat from Isla Damas to Punta Choros. We had lunch in Punta Choros, took the bus back to La Serena and then another bus to Copiapo. There ended the long day and we were back home by late night.
