February 5, 2016
After a very rocky day at sea with 20-foot waves, we were
delighted to awaken to sunshine, calm seas, and land – Port Stanley, capital of
the Falkland Islands. The Falklands is known for its isolation, its barren
terrain, its role as the center of a conflict between Argentina and the United
Kingdom in 1982, and, most of all, for its sheep. With a population of fewer
than 3,000 people, it is estimated that there are about 500 sheep per person.
We weren’t sure we would be able to visit today as
yesterday’s weather had been so inhospitable. Ships – and lots of cruise ships
visit here – sometimes have to skip this port because the seas are too rough
for the tenders to make the trip safely from the ship to land. About ten years
ago a sister ship of ours, the Amsterdam (on which we circumnavigated the globe
in 2015) was anchored here. Many of its passengers were ashore when an
unexpected storm came in that prevented the tenders from running and stranded
the passengers. The local residents rallied and took in the stranded passengers
overnight, providing accommodations, food, and, in some cases, prescription
medicines. Now, before every cruise ship season (October – March or April), the
local authorities take an inventory of who has rooms available and how many are
handicapped accessible in order to prepare to offer assistance if needed.
Our tour today was to Volunteer Point, a major nesting
ground for King, Gentoo and Magellanic penguins. This was a 7-hour tour that
forced us to get up several hours earlier than our preferred time. Four hours
of the tour were spent in a Land Rover (two hours each way) to cover the 47
miles from town. Twelve miles of the
trip (both ways) was off-road, and I do mean OFF! If we had thought the seas
had been rough the day before, that was absolutely calm compared to the ride we
had to Volunteer Point. We drove in and out of peat-boggy holes, up and down
nearly vertical hills. It was so rough that my FitBit recorded about 8,000
“steps” which were “earned” on the drive.
Our driver, Elsa, is the co-owner with her daughter of
Estancia Excursions (www.estancia-excursions.com)
and a 6th generation Falkland Islander. The company is named after
her farm of approximately 13 thousand acres with 3000 sheep. We passed it on
our way to volunteer point. The “real road” on which we traveled from Stanley
the first 35 miles of the journey, before going off-road, was not much more
than a gravel country road that did not exist until about 1985 – after the UK
and Argentine war. Elsa said that while
it now takes a bit over an hour to get to town, before 1985 it took 3 hours to
get to town. Most of the farms are situated on inlets because, without roads,
the farmers had to send wool, and receive supplies via boat. Or drive for miles
over rugged terrain and over rocky mountains.
The country side, in addition to
peat bogs, has many rock rivers. They look like glaciers, but with rocks
instead of ice. They are the result of the large rock mountains expanding and
contracting over the years until finally they break down into rivers of rock.
When the road was constructed in 1985, geologists had their first opportunity
to measure how deep the rock rivers were.
Elsa pointed out various sites from the war, including a
mine field where Africans from Nairobi are working very methodically to clear
the existing mines. We also saw the remains of two downed Argentine helicopters
as well as sites where both British and Argentine troops had been positioned.
Elsa and her family hosted a group of British paratroopers in their home at
Estancia. The local farmers turned up in force with tractors and 4 x 4 vehicles
to transport the troops to a vantage point. Our friend Bob, who took the “war”
tour instead of visiting the penguins, said the Argentines might have won if
they had not made a strategic mistake – showing up. ;-)
 |
| Nairobi workers clearing mines from the field |
Volunteer Point is a beautiful 2-mile stretch of white-sand
beach. The penguins’ rookeries were nearby and, as it was hatching season, the
adult penguins made a constant trip from the rookery to the sea and back with food
for the babies. The chicks are very curious and, if you are quiet and still,
will come very close to check you out. We saw one Gentoo chick literally
“posing” for one of our fellow passengers. Down the beach are large numbers of
adolescent and “teen” chicks that have been pushed out to fend for themselves
while mom and dad are busy feeding the newer hatchlings. One small group was in
various stages of molting. One in particular, whose remaining baby feathers
made it seem as if he was wearing a ruffled collar, seemed to enjoy our
attention.
Magellenic penguins burrow, so you have to watch where
you’re stepping. In one case we spied one hiding in his burrow. As we peeked
inside, he put his back tail out the burrow hole and proceeded to poop for our
benefit.
Gentoo penguin colony
Magellanic penguin in burrow
On Volunteer Beach
The penguins and your truly
Nose to nose with curious king penguin
Junior king penguin showing off - when he finishes molting his colored areas will be orange instead of yellow.
Down to the sea in shifts - king penguins
Out for a stroll
It was an interesting and tiring day. I think we are
officially penguined out – a bit how we felt after seeing our umpteenth pagoda
in Myanmar and Indonesia last year.
Now we have two days at sea coming up before our next stop –
Montevideo, Uruguay on the 8th.
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