Fun things to do in Falkland Islands

4 more images

Yes! Everyone who has been to the Falklands will know about the bones which form an arch outside the Anglican church.
However, go inside the church to see an unusual stained-glass window: it's of a District Nurse who served the community in the first half of the 20th Century ---must have been quite a person to be remembered in this way!
There's a Roman Catholic church too and beyond that the memorial to those who died in the 1982 war. The memorial plaque is an amazing panorama of a battle scene featuring soldiers, fighter aircraft, assault ships, troop ships, tanks, rocket launchers, helicopters and so on. It's well worth a few minutes study.
I'll be adding photos soon.
Would I go back to see the Falklands? Well, the VT information from others was that the penguins were likely to have gone by March ---and so I didn't bother to look for them. If I did return then I'd go on the 4x4 tour which was great fun although very muddy and...eh... how to put this....'messy'.
If you're on a cruise then do read my tip entitled 'rain'!!!!!!

The Falkland Islands are the home to many different varieties of penguin. I was looking forward to taking a trip to Bluff Cove Penguin Rookery where I was promised sightings of Gentoo, Magellenic, and King Penguins. Unfortunately the cruise company informed me that all the Bluff Cove trips were boooked out - as were all the other penguin related trips. As a result I missed any opportunity of viewing penguins on the islands.

However, as a tip for future day trippers, my advice would be that when you land at the port you will find plenty of taxis and mini buses that will take you exactly where you want to go and at a fraction of the price.

I didn't know that at the time, but fellow travellers told me when I returned to the ship.

I did get to see real live penguins later on in Punta Arenas, Chile, but for now I am posting a pic of the only penguin I saw on the Falklands - a stuffed one in the museum;-)

One of the lovely things about the Falkland Islands is that most of the town-related sights are situated within walking distance of each other.

The Museum is situated on Holdfast Road (most of the streets here have really interesting names with little bits of history attached to them) and for a nominal fee you can spend hours wandering around in here. In fact, you can wander off for a cup of coffee or a pint of beer, come back and let them know you were here earlier, and you don't have to pay the fee again.

I loved it particularly because, unlike many of the large museums of the Capital Cities of the world, this museum is situated in a typical Falklander house and is staffed by locals who will be more than happy to share many tales with you.

I take it that opening hours depend very much on whether or not there are tourists in town.

There's a tiny gift shop at the equally tiny reception where you can buy postcards, diaries, and books about the island. I'd also recommend perhaps investing in one or two of the little ceramic animals that are hand made locally - they are cute more than anatomically perfect, but you can say you have something real and handmade in the Falklands.

The toilets are around the back and are really clean and well maintained.

1 more image

Most of us know the Falkland Islands from the Argentine invasion in 1982 and the occupation until British expedition troops defeated the Argentinians. If one looks on an Argentine map, the islands are part of their country, even though little of Argentine culture is found here.
Monuments mark the invasion and the liberation of the islanders in many areas on the Falklands.

Usually found in groups of thousands of birds are cormorants. Seeing this group of thousands of birds from the distance I thought, wow another group of penguins, but coming closer there were thousands of cormorants nesting, flying in and out feeding the chicks.

All the birds were nesting or looking after they young ones when I was on the island. It was a continuous stream of birds and penguins returning from the sea with "supplies" for the young. The penguins regurgitate the food they have collected and feed the shouting chicks. An amazing sighting that one can see in every corner of the Falklands.

1 more image

One of the main attractions of the island are Rockhopper Penguins that have their nests on the rocky drops of the islands. The community of those penguins consists of a few thousand breeding pairs.
Imagine you are about 50cm tall and you would have to climb a rocky and slippery drop of about 200 meters. Well that is what these penguins have to do when they return to the nesting site. It is quiet amusing to see these little penguins jump up rocky steps.

The Falklands have some 185 different species of birds - the shy Night Heron was one of the sightings that I made whilst I was on the island. Normally slightly higher up on a look out to spot and catch fish.