Stanley, Falkland Islands
Sunday, March 6
We arrived at Stanley – which was a Tender port. The weather was a bit overcast and windy in the morning, but turned into a sunny and warm afternoon. On the way to setting anchor, Adam got a few photos from our balcony.
Adam and Susan took the bus to visit Bluff Cove lagoon -to see Gentoo and King penguins. This started with a bus ride from the city of Stanley (the only city on the island) to a pull-off near the entrance to the Bluff Cove property. Our tour guide gave us a lot of background information about life on Stanley and we found it very interesting. Once we arrived at the gate to the Bluff Cove property, we were met by a small number of land-rover 4×4 vehicles that took us across a large area to the cove. Our driver gave us more interesting insights on what it was like for the islanders during the conflict with Argentina in 1982. He said it was a terrifying experience, and we learned that Falkland Islanders still carry a lot of anger toward Argentina. Our driver explained how the bombing/shelling was physically exhausting to experience, and how he had hidden under the floor-boards in his home.
Once we arrived at the cove, there were local rangers present to tell us about the penguins. They explained that the Gentoo penguin chicks had recently headed out to sea, and what we were viewing was the exhausted parents, waiting for their molting to complete so they could also head out to sea. We were asked to stay behind some flags that were in the ground – to give the penguins space – so they could reserve their energy. We were also told about the small number of King penguins in the cove area, and learned that they had a few small chicks that had recently hatched. We were able to get some nice photos of them, and saw them feeding their chicks.
After viewing the penguins, we headed over to a small set of buildings where we were treated to some home-made pastries and cakes and some hot drinks. They had a small gift shop and clean restrooms as well. We collected some sand for our display table and took another look at some penguins that were on the beach near those buildings.
Soon our Land Rovers returned for out trip back across the property and our bus ride back to the city.
While we were at Bluff Cove, Art and Cheryl took a shuttle to visit another cove where there were penguins, here are their photos:
We explored the quaint city of Stanley and spent some time looking in shops for souvenirs – before heading back to the ship to meet with Art and Cheryl for a relaxing evening and sail-away.