Day 3 Falkland Islands

We had a magical day of fabulous scenery, wildlife and perfect Antarctic summer weather. Blue skies and a blue calm sea. It was great to get into and out of the zodiacs in calm conditions before we are doing it in wet and windy conditions.
In the morning we went to NEW ISLAND. I could see the high cliffs from my porthole in the morning when I pulled up the blind. It is a nature reserve and run by a Trust. We got all 157 passengers transferred to the island within one hour, which was a very slick operation. The expedition team are so pleasant and patient with everyone and safety is taken very seriously.
There was an old shipwreck of a WWII minesweeper (then sealing ship) in the harbour and a small museum and gift shop. But no toilet. If you need to go, you have to go back to the ship!
The wildlife was incredible with ducks and geese and then thousands of seabirds on the cliff face. The Rockhopper penguins were so comical, either busy hopping around, flapping their wings furiously or just standing posing or lying immobile, flat on their bellies. The imperial cormorants had amazing blue eyes and fluffy dark grey babies. The black browed albatross is a beautiful bird with a 100cm wingspan with fluffy light grey birds. They build tall nests out of mud. We also saw the very rare striated Caracara and the long tailed lark that had a brilliant red belly. Experiencing the noise and sight of the albatrosses and cormorants swooping down to land was memorable.
During lunch the ship moved to WEST POINT ISLAND. I took the Landover to see another colony of similar birds but in a different habitat of tall tussock grass and then later walked to see a number of Gentoo penguins. We also had a really clear sighting of a Southern Right whale in the bay (very rare ). That was followed by going to see Kiki who served us endless cakes that she had baked and tea. Her closed neighbours are 8 miles away. She has the Union Jack flying at the front of her home.
Getting back into the boat was very inelegant. 2 team leaders more or less propelled me in.
We also had an interesting talk back aboard ship about the history of the Falklands including the Falklands war. It was given by a neutral Italian historian.
During the nightly briefing we knew it was bad news when the Captain appeared. Bad weather means we can't visit Stanley and instead go directly to South Georgia. This bad news was followed by the bar opening, the team leading a sing-song and folk up dancing. A good response to bad news.Leer más