Cocktail Total: 0
Sunburn Status: Still Shedding Skin… I wonder if this is what molting is like?
Sleep: 7 hours …. sleeping on a ship does strange things to your dreams
Today we woke early, excited to get off the ship and see Penguins! Port Stanley is a tender port - and so we had to be shuttled from the ship to the entry pier via smaller crafts. As we were coming ashore - my first impression of the island was that it looked a lot like northern Scotland, but with added white quartz beaches. The people of the Falkland Islands all speak English as a first language, and have a culture rooted in British tradition. The architecture of most of the houses and public buildings is decidedly british and most buildings are painted white and have brightly colored roofs. Some say the brightly colored roofs help ward off the dreary weather in the winter, and others claim they are a traditional navigational device. The colorful cottages, the sea cliffs, the pete bogs and grasslands, and the rocky, wind ravaged landscape all remind me of the Scottish Highlands. The people are very friendly and very proud. There are farmers who raise sheep all over the islands also. There are no trees native to the island (apart from those that have been planted in the town of Port Stanley) and there are also no indigenous people to the islands prior to the arrival of the Europeans and British.
The Falkland Islands lie in the South Atlantic Ocean, 300 miles east of Argentine Patagonia. The capital city of the Falkland Islands is Port Stanley and is where two thirds of the approximately 2,500 person island population lives. Everything outside of the city limits of Port Stanley is simply called "Camp," by the locals. Port Stanley was founded as a British Colony in 1845, but the Argentines claimed ownership also. Over the centuries, the islands have changed hands many times and have been the source of fierce battles between countries wanting control. Most recently, in April 1892 Argentine forces invaded and occupied the islands for about ten weeks before being defeated by British troops. Today, large sections of land surrounding Port Stanley are fenced off and posted with signs that read "WARNING: MINES" because the Argentines planted mine fields around the town to ward off the British and never removed them after the conflict. There have been no mine related accidents for several years, but the empty, unusable fields are reminders of what many claim was an unnecessary battle.
Nathan, Jesse, Maria and I had not booked any shore excursions ahead of time, and decided to try our luck meeting a local at the pier who might be able to show us around - and to the penguins. We were in luck. The first gentleman we met at the shore was a fellow named Lachie Ross (pronounced Lackey) and he was a true Falkland Islander - born and raised on the island. He was a man in his forties, rugged and easygoing, and he had a big, blue range rover. He told us that he took time off of his regular job as a government purchasing agent to show the tourists (us) around -- since he knew a cruise ship would be in port today. Lachie also told us that he knew of a private piece of land where he could take us to get close to the penguins. We all piled into the range rover and took off across 15 minutes of gravel roads, out of town. Soon we traveled off road through the peet bogs and grass lands for about 15 minutes until we reached a rocky point that overlooked a small cove and a white quartz sand beach. On the rocky point were about 30 Gentoo Penguins and below us -- on the beach (which we could not access because of potential mine fields), were hundreds more. We were able to get within 20 feet of the mostly young penguins. We stayed at a small distance because we didn't want to disturb them. They were unafraid of people as they are a protected species on the islands. Those that were not napping watched us as we watched them. We watched as mothers and fathers returned from the sea to feed their young penguins on the rocky shores. We watched them waddle around and flop on their bellies. We watched as they called out to be fed. It was amazing to be so close. There were also many other birds around, including black browed albatross, the south arctic goose, and turkey vultures. I will never forget being able to get that close to the penguins in the wild. After about a half an hour watching the penguins, we climbed back in the range rover and Lachie drove us back to town.
After that, we spent some time wandering the main street - Ross Road (no relation to our guide) and saw The Christ Church Cathedral and Whale Arch, as well as some local stores, a war memorial, and of course, the post office. By then, it was getting late in the day and we were required to be back aboard the ship by 3:30pm, so we headed back. Tomorrow is another sea day, and after that - we will arrive at Usuaia (pronounced ooo-soo-why-uh) a.k.a "The End of The World"… if the world was flat.
PHOTO UPDATE:
Unfortunately, we are unable to upload any of our photos at all while on the ship because our internet connection is via satellite and that means that it takes a very long time just to upload one photo. We apologize for not being able to share the most interesting parts of the trip with you yet, but we will upload everything we've got to date as soon as we have a hotel internet connection on land. I estimate that you will be able to see hoots on here by February 17. Thanks for your patience. We are learning as we go.
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