... a town of 2500 inhabitants on a windswept, desolate island. After two days of R&R at sea, we were ready for an adventure. We chose an overland expedition to visit the penguin rookery at Bluff Cove. Accessible only by Land Rover, we jolted for half an hour over uneven, rutted terrain, rocks, and gorges to reach the beautiful but secluded Bluff Cove. Home to more than a thousand Gentoo penguins, the rookery also has a small colony of King penguins, who stand head and shoulders above their smaller cousins. One protective King penguin father was warming an egg which was about to hatch. The rookery is watched over by the family who owns the land around the Cove, and makes sure no one bothers the penguins as they grow. The ground was strewn with penguin down from the mostly molting 3 month old chicks, who will go out to sea in the next few months. They were an endearing crowd, waddling up to us to see what we wanted. The innocence of youth! The nearby Sea Cabbage Inn offered fresh hot coffee, tea and chocolate, along with home-baked goodies, very welcome after braving the winds in the cove. Although it was a balmy 65 degree summer day, the wind was icy and relentless. Not good for contact wearers!
After our penguin visit, our driver returned us to Stanley, formerly known as Port Stanley. We had a nice lunch of fish n' chips at Deano's, a local hangout, which fueled us for a walk up Stanley's steep streets to get a better view of the town's colorful roofs. Many houses had lovely vegetable and flower gardens, which must have been quite a feat given the harsh conditions. One family has a display of various types of whale skeletons, and the local church has an arch made out of whalebones. We learned that Prince William will be returning to the island in the next week or two for a new tour of duty. Just missed him!
We enjoyed the walk and the many lovely gift shops along the major street. We were happy to make it back to the ship just before a brief rainstorm. Next up: Antarctica!
I'm again having trouble uploading photos, so will do so as soon as the connections improve. The penguins were adorable!
Can’t wait to see your pictures. I would have loved to seen all the penguins. It was reported on the news that Prince William was heading for the Falkland Island to report for duty. All is well here. Looking forward to celebrating Maria’s and Dennis’s birthdays. We have tickets to see Don Rickles & Frank Sinatra, Jr on the 11th of Feb., should be fun. Smooth sailing…….. XXXOOO
ReplyDelete