We are back in Chile where our South America adventure started. We had only been on the water for 4 days but even so it was a bit of a shock to be in a city. Same as in Argentina, stray dogs everywhere (mainly asleep), cars, noise, pedestrians - the serenity of the cruise was gone, the drivers here do stop at pedestrian crossings though. We had already booked one night in a hostel and what a strange place it turned out to be - glad it was only one night. It was...

Our last day of the cruise was an even earlier start than previous, the morning excursion was before breakfast. We landed on Magdalena island with a magnificent sunrise. Then we had around an hour to say hello to the Magellanic penguins. A month ago, there was around 6000 here and in another month, there will be none as they swim north to warmer regions of Chile. We were concerned that we might not see many and maybe only a fleeting glimpse. We needn't have wor...

Day 3 and early risers' coffee again. Another boat trip to walk to Aguila glacier, then the obligatory hot chocolate and whisky. There is a German couple on board visiting Argentina and Chile for a month to do plenty of trekking. When I asked them where in Germany they were from, I was surprised when they said 'Berchtesgarden, you know Adolf Hitler, Eagles Nest'. They have a small fluffy penguin with them called Pingu who they place on random bits of ice for ph...

To see sunrise, we took advantage of the early risers' coffee and pastries available from 7.00am, (before another great breakfast) - no lazing in that comfy bed again. Into waterproofs and those fetching orange life jackets for a zodiac ride to the shore by Pia Glacier. I went on the challenging hike which was steep, slippery with mud and included clambering over a boulder field to reach a view point overlooking the glacier. Donna did the lower walk with more t...

Monday 12th March - we checked out of our room but Ada allowed us to lounge around and use the internet before checking our bags in for our cruise. In the harbour was the Ventus Australis waiting for us (capacity 210 plus crew) but this was dwarfed by a 2500 passenger cruise ship moored for a day visit - we wondered why Ushuaia was abnormally busy with tourists. Late afternoon we sailed through customs - no pun intended. The customs x -ray machines and personne...