Searching For- The Penguins Of Madagascar In-al... Here

If you are a child of the early 2000s—or the parent of one—you know the names: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. The elite strike force from The Penguins of Madagascar has been living rent-free in my head since 2008. So, when I booked a bucket-list trip to last month, I made a logical (read: sleep-deprived) assumption: Snow + water + cool birds = Penguins.

But honestly, standing on a glacier, watching a puffin struggle to fly while a whale breached in the distance, I realized something: The real treasure wasn't the penguins. It was the absurdity of the journey. Searching for- the penguins of madagascar in-Al...

I landed in Anchorage, rented a 4x4, and immediately asked a local ranger: "Where is the best viewing spot for the Madagascar penguins?" If you are a child of the early

I was wrong. Horrifically, comically wrong. But honestly, standing on a glacier, watching a

I learned that while you can find penguins in Africa (yes, the African Penguin lives in South Africa—close to Madagascar, actually), and obviously in Antarctica, you will never find them bobbing next to a grizzly bear in Alaska. Not even Private.

Somewhere north of Juneau (I think)

Searching for the Penguins of Madagascar in Alaska: A Cautionary Tale of Film-Induced Geography