Pira Tour - Ushuaia

When we were thinking of doing this tour, I couldn't find much info on CC about it. We are back from our cruise and we did this tour. It was fantastic. I highly recommend them. Here's a short review about the tour.

We did Pira Tour (pronounced Pier-a – all short vowel sounds). I would highly recommend them. We boarded a modern bus at 11:00 AM and drove about 1.5 hrs. The road was scenic, a bit bumpy, but not bad at all. If you have trouble with car sickness, you might want to take some medication with you. Also take your own water and food. You will not have an opportunity to eat until you return to Ushuaia. You can safely leave a backpack on the bus. We drove to a small whale museum, where half of the group was dropped off, while the other half went to see the penguins. In an hour, the groups were switched. At the dock we boarded a Zodiac which was covered, and took a 15 min. boat ride across the Beagle Channel. We brought an old pair of athletic shoes to wear, as you walk in penguin dung, mud, and could get wet if it were raining. We plan on throwing these shoes away on the ship. We were required to stay together, and to follow the tour guide on a set path. Penguins dig holes in the earth for their nests. Beware of where you step. You could step into one of these holes. I stepped in one, slid on the muddy surface and fell. I was not injured. Some of the holes are deep and small, real ankle breakers. There were 17,000 penguins on the island. We saw King, Magellan, and Gentoo penguins. Penguins were feeding in the water, trumpeting, waddling, flapping their fins, etc. There were some juveniles who still had their baby feathers. It was so exciting and fun. After the zodiac ride back, we boarded the bus to drive back to Ushuaia. They stopped once at a scenic place, so we could get off the bus and take pictures. The trees are affected by the high winds in this area, similar to the Falkland Islands, and se saw some of these trees at this stop. We arrived back in Ushuaia at 5:30 PM.

When we were thinking of doing this tour, I couldn't find much info on CC about it. We are back from our cruise and we did this tour. It was fantastic. I highly recommend them. Here's a short review about the tour.

 

We did Pira Tour (pronounced Pier-a – all short vowel sounds). I would highly recommend them. We boarded a modern bus at 11:00 AM and drove about 1.5 hrs. The road was scenic, a bit bumpy, but not bad at all. If you have trouble with car sickness, you might want to take some medication with you. Also take your own water and food. You will not have an opportunity to eat until you return to Ushuaia. You can safely leave a backpack on the bus. We drove to a small whale museum, where half of the group was dropped off, while the other half went to see the penguins. In an hour, the groups were switched. At the dock we boarded a Zodiac which was covered, and took a 15 min. boat ride across the Beagle Channel. We brought an old pair of athletic shoes to wear, as you walk in penguin dung, mud, and could get wet if it were raining. We plan on throwing these shoes away on the ship. We were required to stay together, and to follow the tour guide on a set path. Penguins dig holes in the earth for their nests. Beware of where you step. You could step into one of these holes. I stepped in one, slid on the muddy surface and fell. I was not injured. Some of the holes are deep and small, real ankle breakers. There were 17,000 penguins on the island. We saw King, Magellan, and Gentoo penguins. Penguins were feeding in the water, trumpeting, waddling, flapping their fins, etc. There were some juveniles who still had their baby feathers. It was so exciting and fun. After the zodiac ride back, we boarded the bus to drive back to Ushuaia. They stopped once at a scenic place, so we could get off the bus and take pictures. The trees are affected by the high winds in this area, similar to the Falkland Islands, and se saw some of these trees at this stop. We arrived back in Ushuaia at 5:30 PM.

Hi, we have done this trip twice now, in February 2013 and February 2014 and also very much enjoyed the trip. On both of those occasions we were able to use a Cafe within site of the landing stage for the boat, and were able to buy hot drinks and hot food there. The possibility of now being able to see King Penguins at this site is exciting, as the only other place I have seen them was at Volunteer Point on the Falkland Islands, although I assume that some of the Expedition Ships that sail to South Georgia will be able to see them there. I am looking forward to again doing this trip in December 2014 when the Golden Princess sails into Ushuaia on Christmas Day

We were on the same trip as Harold (Hotshot80) and very much enjoyed the trip with Pira. Hopefully the kings will continue to show up and start a colony!

Harold, hope you and Susan are well!