ISLA FOCA, PERU
A dry, guano-stained and wave-washed island, ISLA FOCA gets its name from the French word for seals (phoque). A late afternoon exploration of the island by small boat introduces us to a few of the locals, including something of a surprise for waters this far north: Penguins.
 HUMBOLDT PENGUINS to be exact. Thanks to popular culture (i.e. "March of the Penguins," 'Happy Feet" and more) we've come to think of the little waddling creatures as living only on the ice, in Antarctica. Truth is they live happily up and down the coastlines of South America, South Africa and parts of Australia, some of them happy even in the driest of deserts not just icy continents. While there used to be hundreds of thousands that roamed this far north (we're at 5 degrees South, about 300 miles south of the Equator) today there are just thousands, thanks to active fisheries and guano businesses that have brought predators (i.e., man).
Penguins have thrived here for one good reason: Cold water. It's amazing that despite our proximity to the Equator thanks to the HUMBOLDT CURRENT that runs counter-clockwise across the top of the South Pacific and butts up against South America, both air and water temperatures have been dropping each day as we move south. It's early springtime here and during the past few days a luxuriant sunshine has now replaced the heavy rains that nearly drowned us in Costa Rica.
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