Blogs from Falkland Islands, South America

After our time in Antarctica we made the 2 day crossing back across The Drake Passage, even worse “Drake Shake” than on the way over and had us walking a little sideways around the ship. While we did experience motion sickness that had us in our cabin a little longer than normal it usually passed after a few hours and wasn’t a major distraction at any point on our trip. Following the undulating trip across the Drake our first stop back in civilization was Stanley, East Falkland. We arrived at the dock and were welcomed by a pile of seals sleeping on the end. We had pre-booked a day trip to Volunteer Point with Jimmy Curtis Tours. If you are in East Falkland you definitely want to go here. The drive to Volunteer point is an ... read more

Christmas Eve saw us moored off Stanley, the main/only town on East Falkland Island. Most people went off to see penguins (pop 1 million) but we opted to hear about the 74 day war with Argentina. The guide was more British than the British and was a fifth generation islander, his ancestors coming mid 19th century. It was so British his wife even made scones with cream and jam for us all for morning tea in the community hall at Fitzroy (pop about 10). The two memorials to the two British landing ships, Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, sunk at Bluff Cove by Argentinian Skyhawks, were very poignant. One even had white stones outlining a leek as many of the soldiers were Welsh. That road out was fantastic, new with smooth bitumen and passed the Falklands ... read more

Saturday 2 February – Day 1: Stanley & Bleaker Island, Falklands before we travel to South Georgia & Antarctica The information we received from One Ocean about our 18-day adventure through the southern globe was: THE CLASSIC VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY VISITING THREE UNIQUE LOCATIONS This is One Ocean’s most far-reaching polar expedition and includes visits to three different locations. The sub-Antarctic Falkland Islands and the island of South Georgia are home to a proliferation of unique wildlife and birdlife. There are penguin rookeries with more than 100,000 nesting birds and the beaches are covered in fur seals and elephant seals. Seabirds, including many of the albatross species call these islands home, nesting and raising their young in this wild and remote environment. Both locations feature a fascinating history and stunning scenery. To the south lies Ant ... read more

The Falklands are a magical place. Here are a few pics of the islands. One of these days I will add some more text - maybe... Dave... read more

ARGENTINA - Buenos Aires Our ship, the Zaandam was a 785 foot Holland America cruise liner which we had chosen for our journey as it was not too large compared to many ocean liners and we had used HA before when we sailed from Alaska to Vancouver. In the early part of the 17th century, Henry Hudson set sail from Holland in a tiny ship called the ‘de Halve Maen’. His long voyage across the Atlantic heralded the beginnings of Dutch exploration and settlements in the New World heralding a long seafaring tradition between the Dutch and Americans. Our Captains for our journey around the Cape were Joost Endearing and Pieter Jan Van Maurik and there were 620 crew members to 1300 passengers. Unpacked and safely on board the Zaandam we set sail leaving Buenos Aires ... read more