SouthAmerica/AntarcticaCruise: Falkland Islands

After a two day sail from Montevideo we reached Stanley, the capital and only true city of the Falkland Islands. The Falklands, a Crown colony of Great Britain, consist of 200 islands, the largest of which are East Falkland and West Falkland. Stanley is located on East Falkland. The general population of the Falklands is about 3,000, but with military personnel and ex-pats, the population totals 5,000, most of whom dwell on East Falkland.

We arrive at Stanley on East Falkland

Homes along the Stanley coastline

Rolling hills, craggy peaks and no trees

The terrain consists of rolling hills and craggy mountains with absolutely no trees and little vegetation. This windy, stark island is very remote and there are few paved roads outside of Stanley.

For our visit here, we went on a private tour with 10 other passengers. We split up into groups of 4 and hopped into 3 Land Rovers with a driver each. Most of the tour guides here a local folks with other jobs who just happen to have some free time and a 4-wheel drive vehicle available to take visitors on a tour.

Going off road to see a penguin colony

Wild goose

Sheep everywhere

Our first destination was a drive out of Stanley to Bertha's Beach to see a colony of penguins. Our convoy of SUVs drove along a paved and/or gravel road for about an hour, then turned abruptly off-road onto a privately owned sheep farm. We continued with a bumpy ride across pastureland for about 20 minutes to reach our destination. We stopped a couple of times for the driver to jump out and open, then close several gates where the sheep were fenced in.

When we reached the coast, we saw a big colony of Gentoo penguins. We learned to recognize them by their bright orangey red beaks, pale pink webbed feet and wide white stripe across the top of their heads. It is mating and nesting season here so the penguins are very busy. The male/female pairs share nesting and parenting duties. They take turns guarding their nests to incubate the eggs and feed the young chicks. While one mate minds the nest, the other waddles down to the water to go out to sea to feed. The well fed mate then returns from the sea, waddles across the beach, then back to the nest to relieve its mate so the mate can go out to feed. Also, the mates are calling out to each other all the time so that the chicks in the eggs and the hatched chicks can learn to recognize their parents' voices. There is constant noise and commotion. The penguins are much better at swimming than they are at walking so they are hilarious to watch as they waddle, fall down and get back up to continue. They are completely unfazed by the presence of humans. For their protection, we kept about 15 feet away from them as we enjoyed their antics.

Nesting Gentoo penguins

Gentoo penguin (bright orange beak/pinkish fee)

Gentoos waddling/falling down on the beach

Nesting Gentoos

Gentoos heading out to the sea to feed

Human on the beach

We were also fortunate to see another species of penguin, the King penguin, at this site which is a rare occurrence at this beach. They are taller than the Gentoos and have black feet and a yellow coloring at the neck.

King penguin (yellow collar/black feet)

King penguin stands tall among the Gentoos

We drove back to Stanley passing an area where one of the big battles of the 1982 Conflict was fought. We talked extensively with our driver, Peter, a 6th generation resident about the Conflict and how it effected the locals. Many people there feared losing their homesteads if the Argentines prevailed. The fighting lasted 10 weeks after Argentina invaded the island. Sadly, some 907 people died in the Conflict (649 Argentine troop, 255 British troops and 3 civilians). Most of the fighting took place outside of Stanley. There are warning signs and fenced off areas around the island marking the mine fields that are still there. Clearing operations are going on, but, unfortunately the Argentines did not keep good records of the burial of the plastic mines so it is a slow process. Once the high country was recaptured by the British, the Argentine troops surrendered without any further fighting and laid down their weapons on the streets of Stanley.

War Memorial in Stanley for the 1982 Conflict

Site of a major battle with hand to hand combat
during the 1982 Conflict

Ironically, the 1982 Conflict put the Falkland Islands on the map as far as the rest of the World is concerned. Tourism is on the rise in the islands.

Our tour ended with a drive around the quaint streets of Stanley for some quick sightseeing, then we stopped in at the Globe Tavern for a local beer with our fellow passengers. We all agreed that we were lucky to have experienced such a personal glimpse of this remote place. On our walk back to the ship, we all stopped at the gift shop and bought stuffed toy penguins!!!