Departing from Puntarenas, explore the “Parque Pingüino Rey”, where you'll witness the striking bearing of the king penguin: standing nearly a metre tall, it proudly displays its immaculate white belly when upright on land. Males typically weigh between 12 and 14 kg, though this can range from 8 to 20 kg depending on fasting periods; females weigh around 2 kg less than males. Its black back contrasts beautifully with the yellow and orange patches on its ears and the red of the lower part of its beak.
Unlike its larger cousin, the emperor penguin, which lives only in Antarctica, the king penguin prefers the islands and territories of the southern hemisphere surrounding the austral continent, located near Patagonia or New Zealand.