Well…. We are totally blessed, that's all I can say! Woke up to a brilliant blue sky and crucially NO wind at all. We took a tender across to the port and walked the few blocks to the office of Solo Expediciones, the company that run the boat trips out to Magdalena Island. The news was good - the trip was on!

Punta Arenas makes a good first impression. It has a frontier flavour as you would expect for a town more or less literally at the end of the world, but also some very fine European style buildings dating from the Victorian era. It feels a bit like the Midwest of America somehow too. We had about an hour before departure for the RIB so we wandered into the main plaza where some stalls had been set up - mainly knitwear. Bought a couple of stocking fillers for the girls. A lovely statue to Magellan in the centre flanked by two mermaids and two Indians. Tradition states that if you rub the foot of one of the Indians you will have good luck and return to Chile, so one foot is highly polished. We had to do it of course.

At departure time we were driven by mini bus for about 35 minutes to a tiny jetty where the RIB was moored. There was about 35 of us I would guess. Then aboard and off towards our first stop, Isla Marta, a tiny rock of a place crowded with Southern Seals, Southern Sea-lions and Magdalena Penguins. All literally lined up: along the beach, along the cliffs, everywhere. I couldn't help but liken it to the Celtic tribes lining up along the cliffs of Britain to welcome Caesar and the Legions LOL. The boat brought us in really close to shore so we could see them. The male seals were rutting so we couldn't land because they were fighting each other and likely to be aggressive. What a noise they made.

The water was so incredibly clear and full of kelp which looked beautiful. I got quite distracted taking pictures of it and wished I could be diving, although the sea was very cold. There were about 17000 seals and sea-lions and many sea birds. We saw flocks of Imperial Cormorants and Lesser Cormorants, Southern Petrels, Kelp Gulls, Dolphin Gulls and South Polar Skuas. The RIB was roofed and we got up on the roof and around the edges to view and photograph the wildlife. Thank heavens it was so very calm. A truly fantastic sight and I shall always remember it.

Then we set off the short distance to Isla Magdalena. We had barely moved away when a shout went up and the boat stopped again. We were surrounded by a major pod of Australis Dolphins, black and white, leaping all around us, zooming under the boat, knocking it and generally showing off. I have seen dolphins in a lot of places, swum and dived with them, but this was pretty special as they stayed with us for a long time and could also be clearly seen under the water as well as above. Just thrilling.

Finally we moved away and arrived at Isla Magdelina. The sea was like glass and it was hot. Unbelievable. We'd come wrapped in thick layers, with rain-macs and woollen scarfs but they were totally superfluous. As we approached the little jetty, literally thousands of penguins could be seen all along the shore, rushing in and out of the water, or just standing looking skywards on the land. There are about 79000 pairs on the island who return every year for mating, egg laying and moulting. They burrow into the earth for nesting and each pair has two chicks. They stay until the chicks are three months old when they learn to swim and then soon they all depart into the sea for their migration north, swimming as far as Rio apparently. I am incredulous at this but apparently it is true. Swimming all the way as penguins do not fly and they do not land anywhere, they just keep going.

We walked ashore and followed the marked out path along the trail for about 1km just totally surrounded by the nesting penguins and their chicks. The Magdelina penguin is black and white with a grey bordered beak, the chicks are greyish and fluffy. They are locally called the donkey penguin as they make a constant braying noise. Mostly they just stand there by their burrows like proud house-owners, then make occasional runs down to the sea for a spot of fishing. Just unbelievable. Also on the island were thousands of nesting gulls and brown skuas who are opportunists looking to eat the penguin eggs. As the whole island is protected, the birds show no fear of humans at all and come quite close. It is quite marked and very comical how they seem to turn their heads to one side and study you. As if to say "who the heck are you big things"?

We stayed for about an hour, enjoying the birds, the beautiful scenery and also the old lighthouse, built in the 1840s by an Englishman. As we left, a slight squall came in and some rain but it was quickly over and by the time we got back to Punta Arenas, the sun was again hot in a blue sky. We went into a coffee house to use the wireless and also enjoyed two Pisco Sours, the national drink of Chile. They were utterly utterly delicious and very strong. We managed to call Daisy and also Facetime with Lu which was great. Technology is so wonderful when you are as scattered as we are.

Then, a last regretful stroll across the waterfront and back to the ship. Have really enjoyed our first taste of Chile and certainly this area at the bottom of the world is a naturalist's paradise. Would love to come back here and explore a lot more. I highly recommend Patagonia to anyone with the remotest interest in beautiful scenery and wildlife. I have some fantastic pictures of the day which I will upload once we get to the next port with good wireless.