Thursday, 23 January, 2014
Once again, we have experienced an absolutely amazing day. We awoke to a great breakfast in bed, again, and while we were eating, our ship arrived in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, located out in the Atlantic Ocean about 700 miles off the coast of Argentina. The Islands are very barren, windblown all the time, with no natural trees to speak of. A few of the 2500-3000 residents have planted and tried to grow some trees here in town, but there aren't very many. The town is quaint, with a simple harbor, some very British flavored architecture, and lots of homes with brightly colored rooftops. There are many memorials to those who were lost in the 1982 war between Argentina and Great Britain, which as I have shared in previous posts, was won by the British.
We didn't have much time to explore Port Stanley though as we quickly departed for our Island safari to the penguin colonies. Now is when the real adventure begins. We were assigned 4 guests per Land Rover, and then we headed out caravan style to the other side of the Island. The first 5 miles were on a paved highway, followed by 25 miles on gravel road, then 12 miles on open country bog and turf...... there was no road at all!!! It was the roughest ride we've ever been on, much like a 6 flags roller coaster ride, but in very slow motion. The final 12 miles took over 1.5 hours to cover, each direction. We understood why anyone with neck or back issues was not allowed to go on this adventure ride.
After 2.5 hours of 4 wheeling, we finally arrived at Volunteer Point, home of several penguin rookeries. 4 different species have made this their home, Magellan, Chinstrap, Gentoos, and best of all the exquisitely beautiful King Penguins. We were able to go right up to their habitats, although we could not touch them. Many of them, curious creatures that they are, would waddle right up to you and look at you in their unique way, then turn around and waddle away. They did not seem to be intimidated by us or have a natural fear of humans. Of course, they are all protected by international laws, so their only enemies are those marine animals higher up the food chain, like seals and whales.
Our time was limited because we had to return to Port Stanley and catch our tender back to the ship, so we quickly took lots of pictures and videos and then after about 1.5 hours of penguin time, we repeated the wild and bumpy journey back to Port Stanley. We had few minutes to do a little souvenir shopping and then headed back to the tender for our return to the ship. Dr. Michael Wilcox remained in the town during our excursion so I asked him if he would be willing to go to the Falkland Islands Post Office and purchase some highly sought after philatelic stamps. He did even better than I could have hoped for by also finding a complete Charles Darwin set, a complete set of the life history of Sir Ernest Shackleton, and a complete set of 1982 Falkland Islands War stamps, plus others depicting penguins, local history, etc. We departed Port Stanley just before dinner and are now heading out into the open Atlantic Ocean for the next 1,025 miles until we arrive in Punta del Este, Uruguay early Sunday morning. I won't be taking any pictures for the next two days, so any photos I attach to this Blog on Friday and Saturday will be penguin pictures from today's amazing adventure.
Dinner tonight began with chilled fruit dish with our favorites, lychees, followed by chilled peach-ginger soup, and oriental chicken salad. Marla's entree was a grilled chicken breast, baked potato, and broccoli with carrots. Mine was tender sirloin tips sliced in mushroom gravy, roasted potatoes, and grilled vegetables. Marla's choice of dessert was, of course, Pineapple Sorbet. Again, I passed. Didn't need it!
We're doing great, and just couldn't be happier.
Our love to all,
Tom and Marla
Once again, we have experienced an absolutely amazing day. We awoke to a great breakfast in bed, again, and while we were eating, our ship arrived in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, located out in the Atlantic Ocean about 700 miles off the coast of Argentina. The Islands are very barren, windblown all the time, with no natural trees to speak of. A few of the 2500-3000 residents have planted and tried to grow some trees here in town, but there aren't very many. The town is quaint, with a simple harbor, some very British flavored architecture, and lots of homes with brightly colored rooftops. There are many memorials to those who were lost in the 1982 war between Argentina and Great Britain, which as I have shared in previous posts, was won by the British.
We didn't have much time to explore Port Stanley though as we quickly departed for our Island safari to the penguin colonies. Now is when the real adventure begins. We were assigned 4 guests per Land Rover, and then we headed out caravan style to the other side of the Island. The first 5 miles were on a paved highway, followed by 25 miles on gravel road, then 12 miles on open country bog and turf...... there was no road at all!!! It was the roughest ride we've ever been on, much like a 6 flags roller coaster ride, but in very slow motion. The final 12 miles took over 1.5 hours to cover, each direction. We understood why anyone with neck or back issues was not allowed to go on this adventure ride.
After 2.5 hours of 4 wheeling, we finally arrived at Volunteer Point, home of several penguin rookeries. 4 different species have made this their home, Magellan, Chinstrap, Gentoos, and best of all the exquisitely beautiful King Penguins. We were able to go right up to their habitats, although we could not touch them. Many of them, curious creatures that they are, would waddle right up to you and look at you in their unique way, then turn around and waddle away. They did not seem to be intimidated by us or have a natural fear of humans. Of course, they are all protected by international laws, so their only enemies are those marine animals higher up the food chain, like seals and whales.
Our time was limited because we had to return to Port Stanley and catch our tender back to the ship, so we quickly took lots of pictures and videos and then after about 1.5 hours of penguin time, we repeated the wild and bumpy journey back to Port Stanley. We had few minutes to do a little souvenir shopping and then headed back to the tender for our return to the ship. Dr. Michael Wilcox remained in the town during our excursion so I asked him if he would be willing to go to the Falkland Islands Post Office and purchase some highly sought after philatelic stamps. He did even better than I could have hoped for by also finding a complete Charles Darwin set, a complete set of the life history of Sir Ernest Shackleton, and a complete set of 1982 Falkland Islands War stamps, plus others depicting penguins, local history, etc. We departed Port Stanley just before dinner and are now heading out into the open Atlantic Ocean for the next 1,025 miles until we arrive in Punta del Este, Uruguay early Sunday morning. I won't be taking any pictures for the next two days, so any photos I attach to this Blog on Friday and Saturday will be penguin pictures from today's amazing adventure.
Dinner tonight began with chilled fruit dish with our favorites, lychees, followed by chilled peach-ginger soup, and oriental chicken salad. Marla's entree was a grilled chicken breast, baked potato, and broccoli with carrots. Mine was tender sirloin tips sliced in mushroom gravy, roasted potatoes, and grilled vegetables. Marla's choice of dessert was, of course, Pineapple Sorbet. Again, I passed. Didn't need it!
We're doing great, and just couldn't be happier.
Our love to all,
Tom and Marla
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