When the chinstrap penguins do not “sing” they look for small stones to make their nest; the stones are supposed to protect their eggs or their chicks from the bad weather.

Penguin species are different according to the island. At this stop, we met the Chinstrap Penguins, which name comes from the black line they have under the chin. It seemed we arrived at a period of seduction as they were all together straightening their neck and calling for I don’t know what…It was spectacular and impressive! I regret I could not get their sing on my pictures!!!

We cant “remain of ice” in front of the sadness of that Adelie penguin standing on what it seems his last piece of ice! I can imagine that looking around at the many stones, he is wondering what would be soon his future? What will be Antarctica in few decades? Just a huge desert without life ?….Is that what we are doing???

After traveling three days by boat on an untamed sea from Ushuaia, I could jump on the first piece of land belonging to Antarctica and be introduced to my first Adelie penguin colony. I would never have imagined so many Adelies around me and began to take my first pictures of penguins

This species is the largest concentration of penguins; they weight around 5kg for a height of around 68 cm.

I  never imagined before, that one day I would move  among them without frightening them, on the contrary, very curious, they liked to come nearer and stay at one meter staring at me carefully. I even remember quite well, when I was discussing with some people, an Adelie penguin came in the middle of the group, like a tourist  and looked at us very interested in our conversation! I was really surprised by their human interest…

This medicinal plant is called a ”Worm Plant”, it grows in the high mountains of Sichuan and Tibet.

It comes from caterpillar worms, which dig the soil in the summer months to stay inside it. Then a kind of grass grows around the worms, which emerge outside the soil. The roots have then the shape of the worms.

This strange plant is very good to get energy, good for the blood, the kidneys and the bones. Pieces have just to be put in soups.

People have to climb up to around 3500m to collect the worm plants. They need to stay about one week in the mountains.

This is an expensive remedy.

Salinas Grandes,
in the North West of Argentina, is an immaculate desert in a huge depression
located in the province of Jujuy and Salta.

People are working very hard to extract manually
the salt. They can also use it to make surprising sculptures like this one in
the middle of nowhere!