Meant to mention that while in Montevideo, we also saw some remnants of the Graf Spee, a WWII German ship scuttled in Rio Plata; interesting bit of history there. Uruguay was neutral through most of the war…until the German ship arrived.

 

 

So yesterday was the Falklands! So wonderful to hear UK accents (although there was a bit of a difference, perhaps more like New Zealand accent but not as strong)…we took a tender to shore around 10 AM, then got into our minivan and off to Murrell Farm just outside Stanley. The farm is run by 5th-generation Falklanders and is about 10,000 acres, with sheep, cattle, horses, assorted cats….a lovely place. From the farm, we transferred into Range Rovers. We bounced, dipped, and hit our heads a few times going a whopping 10 mph over non-roads on our way to a Rockhopper penguin colony. Really enjoyed the scenery and the driver, William, who was born here. He had an interesting take on the 1982 Falklands conflict, saying he’d actually never met an Argentine until then. And mostly the Argentine troops were boys conscripted out of school, with no training and little food.

It took about an hour to get to the colony, and it was quite funny. There were about 450 penguin pairs and chicks, all in various stages of moult. The chicks were fluffy as could be, with their new waterproof feathers showing through underneath. The chicks peeped, and the adult females squawked, and the chicks were fed. One of the chicks hopped and peeped toward every female Rockhopper and was successfully fed each time. survival of the fittest indeed! The chicks won’t fledge until March or so.

There was a rustic little shop to get tea–real Typhoo tea!–and warm up a bit. The weather was warm and sunny, but the wind coming up the cliffs was chilly.

After about an hour, we headed back in a different, older Land Rover and the race among the Rovers was on! We went into some precipitous ditches and up and down and all around; it was a blast! Our driver this time talked about how Cristina (Arg. president) is “just mad enough” to start up another conflict. Argentina has already banned Falklands ships from bringing stores (timber/food) from Argentina; now they have to get everything from England. There was a British frigate in the port (Andrew: F236) that also had brought provisions as well. Falklanders grow their own vegetables and have cows for milk and beef, but the climate is not overly friendly for fruit, for example.

From there, we had a little time in Stanley. Stopped at the Victory Bar (pub) and had real fish and chips with vinegar, a pint, and some cider. Walked around the town a bit, went to the Anglican church with two blue whale jawbones out front (!), went up to the 1982 Liberation Memorial (the memorial to civilians and military troops killed during the war), and to Victory Green, where the mast of the SS Great Britain is mounted.

Today is foggy and much cooler; we’ve just passed the Islas de los Estados and are scheduled to go around Cape Horn by 7 pm our time.