Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

First of all, a response to the signs in Argentina about the illegal occupation by the British.

Obviously, the “occupying” Brits feel differently and have their own sign response. 

One disturbing issue is about health.  The  population of the islands is about 3000.  There is one hospital and it is not able to treat the most severe of health issues, stroke, heart attack, severe injuries.  Argentina does not even allow the Falklanders  to use their air space.  A twelve-hour flight around the Horn to Chile is the only way to get treatment for major issues.       

Okay, enough politics and back to the main purpose of our trip: penguins.

The Falklands are home to three main species of penguin and we took quite a trip to get there.  The drive from Port Stanley to the penguin colonies is about twelve miles, as the crow flies.  Well, penguins are not crows and to see them we took a four-wheel Land Rover ride over rough terrain.  Did we say rough?  The tundra is all ruts and short ravines and no tracks.  To preserve the land, the vehicles do not follow each other.  We bounced and rocked for about an hour to the nesting sites.
It was worth it.

Along the way our driver told us of the seventy-plus days of the Falkland war and pointed out mine sites and landing fields.

There are Magellanic penguins

Gentoo

and King penguins all reaching the end of their nesting season.

 The ever-food- demanding chicks are still shedding their down.

Traits they all have in common are cacophonic voices, sounding like a swarm of wasps or bad musicians blowing on reed instruments.  They are messy, with food or guano on their not-so-white fronts.  They also smell really bad.  Especially the nursery where the chicks all hang out.

Sheep, a major source of income, graze on the “camp” among the penguins.  The word “camp” comes from the Spanish “campo,” meaning flat grazing land.

We were given a box lunch with this candy bar included.

We also saw turkey vultures, Canada geese, seagulls,

and, just like the movie, a Parade of Penguins.

On our return to Port Stanley, the driver took us on a tour of the small town, past the school with an indoor pool, the Anglican and Catholic church with a whalebone arch in front of it,

an inn with gnomes in the yard, a yard with whale skeletons and onto the shopping area.  We obliged by doing a bit of purchase, the items were of impressive quality.