Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 21 – Silver Wind, Falkland Islands can be found here.
As we arrived onboard the Wind, we did not consider ourselves expedition veterans – but we did think of ourselves as passengers that had some idea how it all worked. But each expedition seems to have its own learning curve. No question it was there for Galapagos, and it’s here too.
The swells have been rougher. The briefings more numerous, and more intensive. The sea days less restfull. We’re slowly, surely getting the hang of it.
It would be tougher on a 10 day cruise. We’d already be 30% of the way through. But then we would already be in Antarctica by now. And I’m profoundly grateful to have this extra time in the Falkland islands – and soon, South Georgia.
But not today – today we’re hiking around Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands.
Up at 6:40 am this morning. Quick dash up to La Terrazza for our usual fare of smoked salmon and toast, eggs and cereal, yoghurt and berries. No custom orders this morning apart from my cappucino. We were in and out in record time.
While at breakfast, we got the news that we were cleared for landing – but that the Viking ship bound for Stanley had been forced to pull out due to the high winds. Zodiacs have some definite advantages over regular tenders.
First boats launched for Gypsy Cove to see the Magellanic penguins, but we wanted as lengthy a hike as we could get – so we’d signed up to visit Mount William and Mount Tumbledown. Not everyone onboard was aware that today’s excursion needed to be booked in advance, but the expedition staff was able to shuffle resources about to accommodate them.
We anchored outside the bay, which meant we needed about a 10 minute zodiac ride to get in. We stepped outside and felt the wind rip at our parkas as a sudden gust blasted across the bay. We were blasted with spray as the zodiac set off but the wind and waves soon settled and we made the rest of the journey in to Stanley in relative comfort.
Everything was set up neatly and efficiently – we nosed into the jetty, sailor’s gripped our way up onto the dock, deposited our life jackets in the blue buckets and boarded the bus to Mount William.
On our way, a sudden storm blew across Stanley. We took a brief detour so that the bus could turn about (and to kill some extra time) and the hail and rain had mostly ended by the time we started our hike. Soon we were shedding layers as we enjoyed a beautiful Falklands summer day:
Our guide, Brian, had previously served as the Sergeant Major for the Territorial Guards Unit during the Falklands war. While this excursion focused on hiking, Brian had a wealth of information about the battles that took place in the area. He also thought it was perhaps for the best that the invasion had caught the British by surprise, as it likely prevented further loss of life.
We came across one of the former Argentian defensive positions, in the shadow of Mount William:
The view from the top of Mount William – the long streams of quartzite are known as Darwin’s rivers, and are believed to have been caused by extreme freeze and thaw cycles that moved the stones down the mountains.
Atop Mount Tumbledown, the site of one of the final battles before the Argentinian surrender. This is memorial to those lost from the Scots Guards. The Welsh Guards were originally ordered to take this objective but they suffered significant casualties after their ship was attacked by the Argentinian air force.
Though we felt the weight of the history here, it was a lovely hike – roughly 6 km long with a 200 metre rise in elevation. The kids particularly enjoyed climbing the rugged quartzite cliffs near the top of Mount Tumbledown. They also loved eating teaberries and diddle-dees right off the bushes – they’re not quite ripe, but perhaps when we return in just over two weeks.
After the hike, we were dropped by the museum in town. We opted instead to go to the Malvina House Hotel:
I enjoyed a wee beer (a bargain at 2.50 GBP):
While the kids had post-hike snacks of mint chocolate chip ice cream and creme brulee, and some squid!
It’s caught locally, and is absolutely delicious.
We then wandered through town for a bit, taking in the beautiful homes:
Stanley is growing rapidly, and has a lot of amenities including a hospital, elementary and secondary schools, swimming pool, and new recreation centre.
The waterfront is beautiful this time of year:
That said, our guide mentioned that Falklands now gets approximatley 2 feet of rain a year – much higher than before, which is causing issues for farmers. Meanwhile, their snowfall has been greatly decreased due to climate change.
We also swung past Stanley’s iconic church and whalebone arch, which is made of the jawbones of two blue whales:
And we stopped by the post office to send a postcard back to Canada. Easy and inexpensive to do so and the kids really enjoyed it:
The phone booths actually work! That was a fun history lesson for the kids…
We spotted another lovely little cafe, but no time to visit today. We’ll try again next time:
We then boarded our zodiac to return to the Wind:
We spotted some dolphins along the way. No photos as they were gone as quickly as they arrived.
Off to the Grill for lunch:
The kids each had hot dogs:
My wife had the chicken wrap:
And I had the snapper with french fries and onion rings:
We then took in the lecture on the history of the Falkland Islands, from discovery to dispute. I thought the presenter – Jon French – did an excellent job of presenting the conflict between the United Kingdom and Argentina in a neutral fashion.
My son and I ducked out midway through as we had trivia to attend. Our team – this time the Fab Four – managed to place third.
Back to the room, where my wife and I were getting seriously hungry – so we ordered the canapes. One had some smoked duck breast, another some lobster, and the one with the chickpeas had hummus in it. (Very descriptive, I know.) There were also ham and cheese croquettes but we ate them before we remembered to take photos:
Then it was time for our recap and briefing. Weather is looking promising for our crossing. They’re expecting 3.5 metre (10 foot) swells, but the waves will be at our back – a ‘following sea.’
We then headed to La Terrazza for dinner:
I had the beef tenderloin:
While my wife had the Bigoli pasta:
The kids ordered plain pasta with sauce on the side – which our server ended up sending back several times because it arrived first with cheese, and then with the sauce on top. We suggested the kids would manage just fine, but he was adament it had to be right. It meant this turned into a long meal but we appreciate Silversea’s commitment to the highest possible standard.
Then off to wrestle with our nemesis once more – laundry. Though we seem to be making headway in our struggle, and our fellow passengers seem to be learning how the dryers work (namely, not very well).
For anyone coming on the Wind, I’m going to strongly suggest you use the ‘denim’ setting (aka 40F and 1000 RPM spin, no additions) on the washer to ensure the colourfastness of your clothes. For the dryer, try the ‘microfibre’ setting on normal-plus as that setting seems to be the only one that actually gets anything dry. I’d say it was the equivalent of medium-low in the real world. And remember to clean those lint traps or the dryers will stop mid-cycle and beep incessantly until someone fixes them.
Clocks are being moved ahead this evening. This – combined with the mandatory 9:30 am biosecurity briefing tomorrow – is dashing our hopes of a relaxed sleep-in day tomorrow. My wife suggested that maybe – just maybe – Silversea pretend that we don’t change timezones when we head to South Georgia. I see her point, as we’ll be moving clocks back again by an hour when we head to Antarctica just a few short days from now.
We’re getting exceptionally excited about visiting South Georgia. The expedition staff can’t stop talking about how amazing it is. In fact, they’ve been talking about it since our trip to Greenland. We can only hope it lives up to the hype – but if even a quarter of what they say is true, it shall be well worth the trip.
The dryer gives up its tired chime, and it’s time to call it a night.
Farewell, Falkland Islands – see you soon!
Continue reading Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 23 – Silver Wind.