For penguins, temperature is everything, their waterproof feathers keeping them both cool and warm. Keeping cool is one of the penguin’s main pre-occupations. On land, their elongated bodies and flightless flippers limit their movement to a slow gait, forcing them to lead a sedentary existence. This makes them easy to observe during Antarctica tours and travel to Patagonia. Breeding in the shade or burrows and staying underwater also keep the temperature to their liking. Some species have patches of featherless skin that allow heat to escape.

The bandeirantes were entrepreneurs, not government employees, operating in large expeditionary groups, some numbering into the hundreds, known as bandeiras. In the slave trade, the bandeiras would capture indigenous people and walk them, shackled, to the coast. Those who were still alive by the time they arrived were sold, providing the bandeirantes a lucrative profession.

Barbilla National Park

Marine Turtles
The two turtle species you are least likely to see on your Panama tours are the Eastern Pacific green turtle (Chelonia Agassizii), also called the black sea turtle, and the loggerhead turtle. While the large loggerhead turtle is found in the vicinity of the isthmus, you are more likely to see one in the water than nesting on a beach during your travel to Panama.

When the temperatures drop, Uruguayans get out the grappamiel, considered the national libation. A tradition imported from Italy, grappa is distilled from what remains after the wine leaves the barrel. In Uruguay, honey (miel) is added in the process. Grappamiel is sold as is or produced with a wide range of flavor additives, everything from chocolate to almond to chamomile.