DAY-12: Port Stanley in the Falklands - It's About the Penguins
DAY-12: Port Stanley in the Falklands - It's About the Penguins
Day – 12: Saturday, February 29, 2020
Starting Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Interim Location: At Anchor Offshore at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, U.K.
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
"Leaping Lizards" it's my 19th Leap Day if my counting is correct.
Seas calmed overnight as winds from the west moderated, down from mid-40's to low 20's this morning. We were at our anchorage off of the harbor at Port Stanley around 6:30 AM.
We had nothing scheduled until afternoon so we had a light and leisurely breakfast around 8:30 , light meaning cereal, a croissant and some fruits; no bacon, no eggs!
For the morning I worked on catching up with blog write-ups and had some success with photo uploads though the upload speed for the ship is poor, not worthy of what is charged. I also did a bit of Helium work so we're good for a few more nights aboard, maybe even a bottle of wine here or there.
Around noon we packed up of things, dressed warmly in layers and headed for the ship's tender to go ashore in Stanley. The view from the anchorage is of a desolate rocky island with little to offer in terms of agriculture.
For most of us the history of the Falkland Islands only goes back about 38 years to the time of the last Argentine attempt to claim the islands, held by Great Britain. For centuries before no one had a great interest in the islands so ownership shifted back and forth amongst the European shipping nations. The islands served as a replenishment station for ships from the age of sail through to the coal fired steam turbine types in the late 19th century.
Yesterday's note provided a brief outline of the "Falklands War" so I won't go into that again. What was obvious from today's visit there is little more than rock and sheep on these islands however the value seems to be in issuing fishing licenses to foreign countries desiring to fish the Falkland waters.
Another war fact unheard until today was the impact of land mines across the island.
Apparently the Argentines placed numerous mine fields around the island at what they perceived as likely British points of ingress. Not much success there, the Brits simply came ashore in places not thought to be penetrable. Over the years the land mines have been cleared and strangely enough the world's experts in mine clearance are from Africa a locale long known for the use of mines in hundreds of years of civil strife and wars.
Similar to Ireland, apparently some will not forget and forgive as this sign posted on a Main Street house so indicates.
Once on shore we had a brief walk around the waterfront and a chat with a couple of locals, one was doing a school work assignment related to tourism and the other a nutritionist and microbiologist running her private practice on the islands but moonlighting as a tour guide. Apparently there are too many jobs and too few people so most of the population fills in when and where necessary with extra work.
Since the 80's the islands have come into their own and have worked to maintain their economic independence helped by a large fishing rights zone, tourism and the local ranching of sheep for wool and mutton exported throughout the world.
For our tour today we joined a small group of 14 and were driven from Stanley into the countryside, the total population of the island system is about 3,700 with an additional contingent of British military forces deployed to the island.
The objective for our trip was to get a bit of Falklands lore and history but primarily head to the shoreline and find penguins.
This we did, arriving around 2:30 at the 35,000 acre privately owned Bluff Cove Ranch where groups of penguins have recently settled for the seasonal birthing process. Our wheels to get out to the ranch included a variety of off road vehicles.
At the ranch we were able to walk amongst the penguins, two types to be specific the Gentoo Penguins and the King Penguins. There were thousands of penguins in from the beach areas, many adults but many juveniles as well, including recent hatchlings from the 2019/2020 summer season. The penguins seems to have little concern for the tourists, I suppose we don't look like sharks or Orcas.
With many pictures taken on what turned out to be a cold and blustery day with a spritzing of rain we ventured in to the Sea Cabbage Cafe where baked goods and warm beverages were being served.
The chocolate fudge cookies were the best! The owners of the ranch are front and center with the tourists, available for a local chat or for managing the baking and gifts including woolen goods available for purchase.
We returned to Stanley and were back on the ship around 5 PM. Within an hour the ship was underway for the Southern Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope, the Beagle Pass and the Straits of Magellan. As we sat down for dinner the Captain came on with an announcement indicating that weather would be deteriorating and the seas could get to be a bit choppy. With that announcement we'll probably see the little white bags with twist ties, much like those in airline seat backs, deployed to the stairs and elevator areas of the ship.
Dinner was a hoot, we joined a couple we had met yesterday. Like so many we meet there are commonalities amongst us. At yesterday's wine tasting we learned of a Tulane connection with the gentleman being an alumni. Tonight at dinner we found out that their daughter and her husband were 2005 USNA grads currently stationed in the Washington DC area. The table discussion ventured in many directions ending with the possibility of a meet-up at the Navy Notre Dame football game in Dublin this summer.
With our dinner having started at 6:30 we were back in our room well before ten. Tomorrow is another sea day as we progress toward Cape Horn and Ushuaia.
Here are a few more penguin photos.
Interim Location: At Anchor Offshore at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, U.K.
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
"Leaping Lizards" it's my 19th Leap Day if my counting is correct.
Seas calmed overnight as winds from the west moderated, down from mid-40's to low 20's this morning. We were at our anchorage off of the harbor at Port Stanley around 6:30 AM.
We had nothing scheduled until afternoon so we had a light and leisurely breakfast around 8:30 , light meaning cereal, a croissant and some fruits; no bacon, no eggs!
For the morning I worked on catching up with blog write-ups and had some success with photo uploads though the upload speed for the ship is poor, not worthy of what is charged. I also did a bit of Helium work so we're good for a few more nights aboard, maybe even a bottle of wine here or there.
Around noon we packed up of things, dressed warmly in layers and headed for the ship's tender to go ashore in Stanley. The view from the anchorage is of a desolate rocky island with little to offer in terms of agriculture.
For most of us the history of the Falkland Islands only goes back about 38 years to the time of the last Argentine attempt to claim the islands, held by Great Britain. For centuries before no one had a great interest in the islands so ownership shifted back and forth amongst the European shipping nations. The islands served as a replenishment station for ships from the age of sail through to the coal fired steam turbine types in the late 19th century.
Yesterday's note provided a brief outline of the "Falklands War" so I won't go into that again. What was obvious from today's visit there is little more than rock and sheep on these islands however the value seems to be in issuing fishing licenses to foreign countries desiring to fish the Falkland waters.
Another war fact unheard until today was the impact of land mines across the island.
Similar to Ireland, apparently some will not forget and forgive as this sign posted on a Main Street house so indicates.
Once on shore we had a brief walk around the waterfront and a chat with a couple of locals, one was doing a school work assignment related to tourism and the other a nutritionist and microbiologist running her private practice on the islands but moonlighting as a tour guide. Apparently there are too many jobs and too few people so most of the population fills in when and where necessary with extra work.
Since the 80's the islands have come into their own and have worked to maintain their economic independence helped by a large fishing rights zone, tourism and the local ranching of sheep for wool and mutton exported throughout the world.
For our tour today we joined a small group of 14 and were driven from Stanley into the countryside, the total population of the island system is about 3,700 with an additional contingent of British military forces deployed to the island.
The objective for our trip was to get a bit of Falklands lore and history but primarily head to the shoreline and find penguins.
With many pictures taken on what turned out to be a cold and blustery day with a spritzing of rain we ventured in to the Sea Cabbage Cafe where baked goods and warm beverages were being served.
The chocolate fudge cookies were the best! The owners of the ranch are front and center with the tourists, available for a local chat or for managing the baking and gifts including woolen goods available for purchase.
We returned to Stanley and were back on the ship around 5 PM. Within an hour the ship was underway for the Southern Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope, the Beagle Pass and the Straits of Magellan. As we sat down for dinner the Captain came on with an announcement indicating that weather would be deteriorating and the seas could get to be a bit choppy. With that announcement we'll probably see the little white bags with twist ties, much like those in airline seat backs, deployed to the stairs and elevator areas of the ship.
Dinner was a hoot, we joined a couple we had met yesterday. Like so many we meet there are commonalities amongst us. At yesterday's wine tasting we learned of a Tulane connection with the gentleman being an alumni. Tonight at dinner we found out that their daughter and her husband were 2005 USNA grads currently stationed in the Washington DC area. The table discussion ventured in many directions ending with the possibility of a meet-up at the Navy Notre Dame football game in Dublin this summer.
With our dinner having started at 6:30 we were back in our room well before ten. Tomorrow is another sea day as we progress toward Cape Horn and Ushuaia.
Here are a few more penguin photos.
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