The Falkland Islands

We are here to see penguins, specifically the king penguins. Only about half the cruise ships that come here arrive on days when the sea and winds are calm enough to send tenders into port. It’s a long way into the harbor. We got lucky!

We had arranged a semi-private tour in a 4x4 Land Rover Defender out across the island. The Magellanic penguins are found in many places on the island but the kings are only seen way out across the other side of the island. So it was 3 hours each way, most of it through scrubby fields on barely discernible dirt tracks or no track at all. It seemed our driver, x, was having great fun finding “shortcuts” to challenge his wife who was driving the 4x4 behind us. There are no native trees on the Falklands but lots of big rocks.Read more