January 4, Wednesday – Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

We arrived in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, to overcast skies but mild winds.  The tender ride into Port Stanley took about 20 minutes.  

Upon landing we boarded 16 person vans for a ride out into the countryside to Bluff Cove Farms.  On the drive out we saw Boot Hill.  The story is that a road worker left a pair of boots on a stake beside the road.  When he came back to retrieve them there were several more.  And now it is something of a tradition to leave your boots and shoes at Boot Hill.

Upon arriving at the transfer point we boarded 4 person Land Rovers for a very rough ride down to Bluff Cove Lagoon.  Our driver was Kevin Kilmartin, the owner of Bluff Cove Farms…he was filling in when one of the drivers didn’t make it.  He had lots of information about the sheep farm and the island and about how Holland America talked him into setting up these shore excursions to see the penguins that nest on his farm.

The ride started on a gravel road which eventually ended and the Rovers all took off overland across the peat in various directions trying to find reasonably safe routes to the rookery.  It had rained hard the day before so the peat and soil was very soft.  One Rover got stuck and had to be pulled out by another...all part of the adventure.

We eventually ended up at the Bluff Cove Lagoon, right on the coast...

There we visited a large rookery of Gentoe Penguins.  They have a colony of about 1000 breeding pairs although some are breaking off into smaller colonies nearby.   We were allowed to get up fairly close to the penguins, many of which were tending fairly large chicks. 

There was also a small colony of King Penguins.

At the water's edge was a group of Magellanic Penguins...so we saw three types of penguins today.

Click here for More photos of Bluff Cove Penguins.



And we saw some Upland Geese:

After taking lots of pictures and enjoying views of the lagoon and the ocean we walked over the hill to the Sea Cabbage Café where we were treated to homemade treats made by Hattie Kilmartin, Kevin’s wife. 

They also had a shop with lots of penguin paraphernalia, woolen goods and Diddle-Dee Berry Jam, a local specialty.

Upon returning to the wharf we decided to walk around a little in Port Stanley.  Christ Church Cathedral was a lovely stone church overlooking the harbor.

In the adjacent garden was structure made out of four large whale bones (ribs) to commemorate 100 years of British rule of the island (1833 to 1933).

After stopping at a couple of souvenir shops it was time to head back to the ship as it was beginning to rain. 

We opted to take naps this afternoon and were lazy the rest of the day…perfect vacation day.