Port Stanley, Penguins and the Falklands

Well - we may have been boring everyone with all our lounging around at sea and reading books and eating too much but today we have our chance to redeem ourselves - what an amazing day - I hardly know where to start! We arrived at the Falklands at around 6:30 this morning. Dale and I were up on the balcony looking at land-ho and wondering what we were in for - tomorrow I PROMISE you pictures. The Falklands are amazing. From the ship as we neared, the view was spectacular. My initial reaction was that this is a wild, desolate and spectacular place. The islands rise out of the south Atlantic in low, long slopes with rocky outcroppings at the higher peaks and ridges. Gentle grassy slopes run down to the ocean, sheep graze pastorally and yet there are also clear views of bunkers and battlements as memoirs of the 1982 war. We approached harbour and set anchor and were taken off ship on small boats running not more than a dozen people at a time. The UK is serious about protecting this nearly pristine place. We got to shore within about 15 minutes and climbed into Land Rovers for a 45 minute bounce (and we mean BOUNCE) across hills, valleys, peat bogs, rocks and whatnot, did a dogleg around an active minefield (which curiously had sheep grazing on it) and wound up at a penguin rookery where we got the treat of a lifetime and hung out with the penguins. Most of the chicks are fairly large and leave the rookery about a month from now for the ocean. Their parents will stay a month or so longer and then follow. Wild penguins are exactly as funny and fascinating as you imagine them to be. they had absolutely no fear of us and are very curious as well as hopeful that you may come bearing fish. The smell they must be forgiven for - imagine what it would smell like if chickens (ammonia) ate fish (old fish). We were grateful for the breeze! I certainly could have stayed for the day or the week or more. It was fabulous. They bounced, ran, flopped, slept like dead things and fought and played. Lots of noise and play fighting and the odd one just sat there looking a little gloomy. All we can say is if you ever get the chance - go for it. Worth every penny! We also learned a lot about the Falklands war - the mess of minefields left behind by the Argentine army, the worry that Argentina will invade again and more. The people living there (roughly 2500 Islanders and 2000 stationed Royal Army, Navy and Airforce personnel) love the islands and are very passionate about them. Nearly 100% of the youth go overseas for secondary education and nearly 90% return. The hitch is that you have to have a job in order to live there which is a little tricky. Most people work for the gov't, raise sheep (3,000,000 on the islands) or fish (50% of island income) and a fair proportion make some extra on the tourism gig. Port Stanley is the smallest capital city in the world with about 15-1800 people (roughly the size of Herbert!). You can imagine the impact of a 2600 person ship...

The day was amazing - we glow from effects of too much sun and wind, we have our penguin photos and we are now at sea headed for the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The weather in Port Stanley was gorgeous but as is typical South of the 50th parallel we are seeing almost immediate change and the seas are rising and tossing us around a bit as I type this. The chair I am sitting on is rolling back and forth a bit so it could get interesting by morning!

Remember - you can comment or ask questions if you wish by clicking on "comments" at the end of any posting. We hope everyone is well and we see the weather has been great at home which keeps the farmer from worrying!

Oh yeah - about the sheep in the minefield - apparently they rarely blow up but cows have been much less lucky. The minefields are fenced but as all livestock do - they escape now and again. The collies are fleet and light of foot enough not to worry but cows apparently have had issues now and again. One cow set off an anti-tank missile which ended up aimed for Stanley and scared the be-jesus out of the townsfolk. It went much worse for the cow. The mines are also still in some of the beaches that the penguins land on but thankfully the penguins also rarely blow themselves up. The minefields haven't been cleaned up because the locals do not want British lives lost in the exercise and maintain that Argentina should clean it up because they planted them. Unfortunately, the Argentine government maintains a position that the islands belong to Argentina and refuses to do anything about the disaster left behind. What a mess we make and thank goodness for penguins!

Until we meet again -

D&M