After 31 hours of travel John and I finally arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile. My first impression of Chilean Patagonia: It´s windy as hell!!!
Nevertheless, on our second day in Punta Arenas we ignored the heavy winds and went by boat to see a huge colony (over 150.000) of Magellan penguins on Isla Magdalena.
My second impression of Chilean Patagonia: It´s plagued by penguins!!!
After many close encounters of the penguin kind we went to Puerto Natales, which is one of the best starting points for trips to the famous National Park – Torres del Paine.
For our first Torres experience we decided on a day tour by minibus which showed us around the park for some easy accesible highlights. Looking back this was a smart thing to do, because our second day in Torres del Paine the weather changed to a steady downpour of rain and the ´Pain´ started 
Our intended 8 hour hike to look at the most famous peaks of Torres del Paine was cut short to a 3 hour hike because of washed out bridges along our hiking trail. John and I returned wet, but definitely not wild, back at our starting point for our 2-hour drive back to Puerto Natales.
My third impression of Chilean Patagonia: Weather forecasts? What weather forecasts?!
However, the one thing you CAN count on in Chilean Patagonia are the friendly and helpful people. Hopefully Argentine Patagonia, our next stop, will bring us more of the same.
More photos of penguins and Pain(e): http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157612835938497/
John´s blogpost: http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2009/01/23/punta-arenas-puerto-natales-torres-del-paine/
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