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Falkland Islands Travel Blogs

Background: Although first sighted by an English navigator in 1592, the first landing (English) did not occur until almost a century later in 1690, and the first settlement (French) was not established until 1764. The colony was turned over to Spain two years later and the islands have since been the subject of a territorial dispute, first between Britain and Spain, then between Britain and Argentina. The UK asserted its claim to the islands by establishing a naval garrison there in 1833. Argentina invaded the islands on 2 April 1982. The British responded with an expeditionary force that landed seven weeks later and after fierce fighting forced Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982.

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

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By Sherri G
March 24th 2009

Windy day South America » Falkland Islands

Bluff Cove

Hi Everyone! Well I can take the Falkland Islands off my bucket list of places to see! We arrived about 6 am Monday morning into Stanley, Falkland Islands. The night had been a rough one at sea and I anticipated high winds and cold weather, so I bundled up in preparation for the chilly day in town with my new turquoise cashmere sweater and scarf that I picked up in Scotland. The Falkland Islands consists of approximately 200 islands covering 4700 sq. miles. The islands are ruled by the British government however Argentina still claims it to be theirs and call [View Full Entry]

By Hoosier Tim
February 18th 2009

Falkland Islands South America » Falkland Islands » East Falkland

Port William

We sailed into the Port William, a large inlet on the east coast of East Falkland island, shortly after sunrise. The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located 300 miles from the coast of Argentina. They consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, together with 776 smaller islands. Stanley, on East Falkland, is the capital. The islands are a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. In 1982 the islands were invaded by Argentina, precipitating the two-month-long undeclared Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, whic [View Full Entry]

By howard and lisa
December 22nd 2008

Birds of the Falkland Islands South America » Falkland Islands » East Falkland

Red-backed Hawk, female

The light in the Falklands is spectacular. At the same latitude south as London is north, the light is completely different from that of south-east England. I have no idea why this should be, but it is so! I awoke at about 4.45 a.m., peered out through the curtains at a stunning cerulean sky and golden hilltops around the bay; it was not a hard decision to throw on some clothes, grab the camera, and go up on deck. The storm was completely gone although a 20-knot wind was to stay with us all day. The sea had calmed enough for [View Full Entry]

By howard and lisa
December 22nd 2008

The most isolated capital in the world South America » Falkland Islands » East Falkland

Whalebone Arch and Christ Church Cathedral

After a light lunch on board, we went into Stanley for a wander around the neat, colourful small town of about 2,000 with its pub, churches, civic buildings and four terraced town houses that could have been transported brick by brick from Victorian England - apart from the green corrugated roof rather than tiles. The morning cloud had blown away and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We were told there had been a fair bit of damage in yesterday’s storm but we saw not a sign of this - frankly it was a tribute to the quality of construction that [View Full Entry]

By howard and lisa
December 21st 2008

Hurricane-force storm in Port William South America » Falkland Islands » East Falkland

White water

We anchored near Blanco Bay in Port William at 8.15 a.m. on a grey, drizzly morning, Port Stanley nestling behind low hills in Stanley Harbour off to the south. But by nine o’clock the sky had pretty well cleared - it was 10°C with 20-25 knots of wind across the bay - and Zodiac landings were deemed to be feasible so we set off for a nearby rocky beach. Up behind the beach was peaty, rocky soil with lichens and mosses, Diddle-dee (a soft dwarf shrub), Tussock Grass, and other native flora; but not a sight of a tree anywhere in [View Full Entry]

By howard and lisa
December 19th 2008

BBQ baby lamb and an impending storm South America » Falkland Islands

The Minerva at dock

We left the hotel at seven for flight to Ushuaia, in the far south of the country, from which 95% of Antarctic expedition ships depart. We had been to Ushuaia several years before when we finished a driving trip through southern Patagonia here; it is a pleasant own of 60,000 or so whose culinary claim to fame is its Patagonian baby lamb rack-roasted over a charcoal fire. By noon we were digging into this finger-licking delight at one of the specialty restaurants on the main street, Avenida San Martin. Afterwards we had time for a short walk and some duty-free shopping [View Full Entry]

By SharonAN
February 3rd 2008

Sailing Towards the Falklands South America » Falkland Islands

Sun 2/3/08 Well I’m up another $10 from a short time in the casino last night. Hopefully that will continue later today. We had another nice dinner and one of the ships officers joined us. Turned out he had spent a year in the same area of New Hampshire as my tablemates so they had lots to discuss. After that we went to the show which was just the singers from the cast singing older songs but very good. We gained an hour last night so I’m up a bit early but will head up to mass in a few minutes. [View Full Entry]

By penfold6
January 22nd 2008

The Welsh Part Of Argentina and The Falklands South America » Falkland Islands » East Falkland

Port Stanley

Tuesday 22nd we were at sea for the day. A somewhat hot day so it was spent on deck getting the sun and relaxing. In the evening prior to dinner, we went to yet another gala evening attended by the captain and again more free booze. Wednesday we arrived in Puerto Madryn, Argentina at around 0800hrs. This town has a population of around 65,000. The town is an industrial center, a major port and has a large fishing fleet. Tourists flock to this area for the superb scuba diving and to see the birds,whales, penguins and sea lions in the nearby [View Full Entry]

By EmH
July 19th 2007

Home Sweet Home..... South America » Falkland Islands

RECOVERED

Well my 3 weeks in The Falklands has flown by! I've had such a brilliant time, but didn't get to do half the things i wanted to~mainly due to the weather, the herc ride i was hoping to get on got cancelled twice, and the trip over to sea lion island got cancelled due to the choper being U/S! I was gutted about that as i really wanted to see the Elephant Seals~maybe next time...... We ended up going to Stanley instead, and had a walk to Cape Pembroke Lighthouse, and had a look at the memorial of the Atlantic [View Full Entry]

By EmH
June 30th 2007

Ajax Bay South America » Falkland Islands

RECOVERED

After arriving on the Friday, I was asked if I’d like to join a few others on a trip to Ajax bay and San Carlos the following day. Only being here for 3 weeks, I jumped at the chance, and 9am the next morning 5 of us set off in a land rover to make our way to the other side of the islands. People weren’t exaggerating about the roads here, and most of the journey was a dirt track, and given the snowfall that had happened this morning, we took it slowly. (Not that going fast was an option [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » South America » Falkland Islands