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| There was only a little rain…… |
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| ….but a whole lot of wind! |
After four days, we left Antarctica behind and headed north back across the Drake Passage to our next port of call, Stanley, Falkland Islands.
We had the “Drake Lake” heading south to Antarctica. The northbound passage was a little different story. We had two days of a pretty good “Drake Shake”. Winds were blowing around 50 mph and waves were in the eighteen foot range. In spite of the bumpiness, we tolerated it without any problems. In hindsight, it was kind of nice to experience both the “lake” and the “shake”.
The Falklands (there anre two main islands, creatively named East and West) are located approximately 300 miles from the Argentina coastline. Around 4,000 people call the Falklands home, many who have been there for multiple generations. If you’re keeping score, there are around 100 times as many penguins in the Falklands as there are humans!
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| The great majority of the Falkland Islands residents live in Stanley |
The Falklands are self governed, but overseen by the United Kingdom. There has been disputes over ownership of the islands for several hundred years. In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falklands in an attempt to take control. They underestimated the resolve of the British, and Margaret Thatcher, and were soundly defeated. The islands have been peaceful since that time, and the defeat of Argentina remains a source of great pride to the several thousand residents of the islands.
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| Stanley Anglican Church, the southern most Anglican Church on the planet! |
We had visited the Falklands about ten years ago on a previous cruise. We enjoyed spending that day at a King Penguin colony, but we didn’t get to see any of the small, well maintained town of Stanley.
This time around we decided to stay in the town area. We hiked from town to Gypsy Cove where there was a small colony of Magellanic Penguins. The hike was quite scenic and somewhat enjoyable. It would have been more enjoyable if the wind wasn’t blowing near Category 1 hurricane strength the entire thirteen miles! We were pretty “wind blown” and wiped out by the time we returned to the pier area. Thankfully we had a few more hours to look around and really enjoyed their national museum (The Historic Dockyard Museum) which was located along the waterfront. If you end up in Stanley be sure to put the museum on your agenda.
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| penguins in Gypsy Cove |
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| We were watching the penguins on the beach. When we turned around we found that this guy had been watching us! |
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| The Lady Elizabeth has been rusting near Stanley since 1913. |
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| One of the many displays in the museum. |
If the wind is whipping and you want to hike to Gypsy Cove, good luck!
