Blogs from West Falkland, Falkland Islands, South America

In the end of course, it’s always worth it….all the planning, the packing, the airports and then finally you’re there….ahh…. that exquisite moment when you’re sailing out of port and the journey is on…. the moment you dreamed of had arrived… finally. We find ourselves standing on the aft deck of a reasonably sized ship, watching the sun set as the land gets smaller and smaller in size….and a huge smile comes across our faces as a great adventure begins. We’ve left the southernmost city in the world and are headed towards our first stop some 450 nautical miles to the east-northeast, the Falkland Islands, the site of Great Britain’s last great military victory almost forty years ago, but more importantly, home to penguins, albatross and many other winged creatures. Little did we know at the ... read more

Day 1: It’s embarkation day. We have been in Ushuaia about 4 days now and we are ready to get out of here. It’s a decent place – easily walkable with plenty of shops and restaurants – but not the kind of place you want to spend more than a few days. We have walked all over the city multiple times and it is starting to get repetitive. The taxi arrives at our hotel to take us to the port just before 4:00. Antarctica here we come! Our ship is named the Ortelius. It holds up to 117 passengers and 49 crew. It was originally a Polish arctic research vessel that has since been renovated into a cruise ship. But this is not the kind of cruise ship you have been on before. There is no ... read more

Thursday 19th January 2012 Yes I know its Thursday because the mat in the lift says so. It’s also a sea day, which means we do not see anything but sea! We are on our way to Puerto Madryn on the Argentinian coast. Each cabinet has TV and the best channel is the one that shows the Captain’s view ahead plus the navigational details plus maps. We are now 47 degrees south so have come a long way from Antarctica. The sea is relatively calm and has been for the past 2 days, which meant that yesterday we were able to dock at Port Stanley in The Falklands. It was a glorious sunny day – it seems that the Falklands have had an unusually good summer. Brian had a visit with the medics to the hospital ... read more

West Point Island... read more