Patagonia location: Isla Magdalena

The Isla Magdalena is surrounded by the frigid waters of the Magellan straight. The island is home to a vast community of penguins and seagulls that use it as their summer breeding ground. Its lighthouse, designed and constructed by a Scottish engineer, aided the navigation of ships that circumvented the American continent during the early XX century.

Isla Magdalena, Magallanes Region

The Isla Magdalena is about 35 Km from the Chilean city of Punta Arenas in the Magallanes region. It takes about a forty-minute boat ride to reach its shores and, because of the straight’s strong winds, reaching the island can be a choppy experience. In our last photo tour, the winds were calm and our journey was very peaceful.

Back in 1837, the Chilean government enacted a decree for the construction and organization of a national network of lighthouses.
The Isla Magdalena lighthouse dates from a much later time. It was constructed by the Scottish engineer and architect George Slight in 1901 and became operational by the following year. Originally, the installation of the lighthouse consisted of a house with five bedrooms, an office, an oil tank and a store, plus kitchen.

In 1976, it was declared of historical importance due to its strategic location and function to the shipping trade lines.
This maritime route was the original navigable link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans which precedes the Panama canal.

In 1981 the Chilean Navy delegated the maintenance of the site to CONAF, the Chilean park services, who has an active presence year round. There are two park rangers that take care of the lighthouse’s structure and protect the animal colonies.