January 27 – Punta Arenas

January 27 2017 – Punta Arenas, Chile
Yesterday was Australia Day. The dining room was decorated and the wait staff all wore jeans and Aussies Hats. Even the penguins were dressed.
We arrived at Punta Arenas at 3:30am and the ship pulled up to the dock to receive a delivery of fruits and vegetables. After the delivery was done, the ship pulled out to moor in the bay. There were 3 ships here today – Celebrity Infinity, NCL Norwegian Sun, and us. The other 2 ship’s are much larger than the Prinsendam so the town was crowded with tourists.
My tour, Magdalena Island & Penguin Reserve by Speedboat, began with a 25 minute bus ride to the speedboat. The boat was fully enclosed so we did not get wet during the 45 minute trip. Our first stop was Manta Island which is home to hundreds of sea lions and thousands of cormorants. We weren’t able to dock here but were given a chance to take photos from the boat. We were told that there were 500 people already on Magdalena Island. The other people were from the Celebrity ship. They were half way done by the time we arrived and gone when we got to the lighthouse. We were told to stay on the path and not to interact with the penguins. They were very cooperative and stayed on their side of the ropes. We were told that there are 16,000 Magellan penguins on the island at this time of the year.
Back on the Prinsendam, we were told that the Antarctica landing was called off due to bad weather on Antarctica.
During dinner tonight we will be doing scenic cruising through the Strait of Magellan. Tomorrow is a sea day sailing through Glacier Alley and rounding Cape Horn.