February 9, 2020

FALKLAND ISLANDS

Good Morning Folks. This morning we anchored in the harbour of Stanley at the Falkland Islands. I hate to say it, we were lucky again. Normally only 50% of the cruises manage to land here, due to the strong winds. As there is no dock to tie on to, we have to tender in on the life boats. It takes about 25min to get to the ramp with the small boats. The waters were very calm this morning. This morning we booked a trip to see the Rockhopper penguins. A van picked us up at the harbour and took us to a farm. From here they disperged our group up and we carried on in 4ea 4×4 Landrovers. We cruised through the farmfields covered with rock outcroppings and peat. The ride was very rough. After about 45 min ride we got to some rocky cliffs by the ocean. Yes there they were, the Rockhopper Penguins. They have quite a smell to them. This peticuler colony still had very young ones. The young penguins have to lose their fur before they are able to go swimming. After spending 45 min at the penguins the 4×4’s took us back for another rough ride back to town. On the way back to town, we passed the 1982 war memorial. The farm we were at was 10,000 acre. The land is only good for sheep farming. While we were on the farm the annual dirtbike event was going on there. Back in town we stopped at the Globe Pub for some fish and chips and a local beer. After lunch we walked along the waterfront and stocked up on some pop at the local supermarket. Carol send of some postcards to the grandkids. Talking to some locals they were saying that there is pretty well no unemployment. The Island is on verge of an oil boom. No hotel space is available in the local hotels, because they are all booked up by the oil companies. Houses are heated by way of electricity or propane. The electricity comes from 6 ea wind turbine generators and backed up by diesel generators. In the old days houses were heated by peat. Today about 3500 people call the Falklands home. I noticed a few new subdivisions being build, as the population is growing. There is a good size military base on the other side of the island, this is about a 30 mile drive from Stanley. Weekly flights are departing to Punta Arenas and Santiago Chile. There is also a weekly military flight to the UK, on this flight 25 seats are reserved for civilians. Young people go mostly to the UK for there college and University studies. There is about an 85% return rate for these young people to settle back on the Islands. At about 3:30 we boarded the tenders back to the main ship. For the rest of the night we kept ourselves busy with on ship stuff.

Cheers

“South America” “Falklands” “Cruising”