Blogs from Falkland Islands, South America - page 3

Monday 26thJanuary 2015 Note: the last blog had thirty-one photos so went on to two pages. We dropped anchor in the natural harbour of Port William on East Falkland, at 7.30 a.m. this morning. We were tendered ashore to the pier at Stanley, dolphins followed the tenders to and fro all day, and an elderly sea lion was asleep on the pier. We were welcomed with Brit voices saying “Hello, how do you do?” and we felt so at home; it felt good. The Falkland islanders are so patriotic, with Union Jacks flying everywhere; it felt like England in June 2012, for the Diamond Jubilee. In the Falklands, it is like this every day! Even on our cruise ship, the day before as we were heading for the islands, the American Grill Bar became ... read more

It was Country and Western night last night. The activities kicked off with a Country and Western trivia. The other members of our trivia team weren't interested in this so Roisin and I slipped unnoticed alone in to Explorers Lounge and decided to play the trivia for fun hoping that no-one would recognise us as part of the know-it-alls and ask us to join their team only to find out that we are crap at music!! I did calculate that if we had put either Hank Williams or Garth Brooks as the answer to every question, we would have scored 8 points (out of 40) As it turns out, we didn't use this tactic but coincidentally scored 8 anyway (had we have been playing!!) Once the trivia was over we decided not to stay for the ... read more

Actually we are in Stanley this morning, but one of our granddaughters, Allyson, is positive we are in Paradise Falls, South America, so there you are. We spent the last 24 hours steaming northeast of South Georgia and South Sandwich Island in “Whale Wars” country. Dropped the hook at 0730 and began the 2.5 mile tender ride into Stanley about 0830. This is an adventure because the Star Princess draws about 30’ of draft in a bay that is about 15 feet deep, so we are anchored outside in Port William Bay, and exposed to the elements a little more than usual, which provides for an interesting 30-minute ride in the small tenders. Conditions today are sloppy wet, thick mists, and gale-force winds. High chop in the bay and the visibility is about 1/3 of a ... read more

After rounding the Horn and thereby becoming “Masters of the Seven Seas,” we made our first stop in Argentina at Ushuaia which is also the Capital of the Malvinas. Ushuaia is the southern-most city in the world and its name means the End of the World. The town started out as a prison colony and has grown into a thriving business center with fish processing and computer assembly plants ringing the Beagle Channel. The Malvinas include the disputed Falklands Islands. Argentina still hopes to “free” the Falklands from what they consider the British Imperialists. Right now there are protests and port blockages by Argentinians because of increased tensions between the two countries. Fortunately the Mariner does not fly a Union Jack. One thing we have found in traveling around the very Catholic countries of South America ... read more

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS I had a 6:00am wake up to a beautiful sunny day. We are tendering to Port Stanley and the harbor can be very rough for the half hour trip, but not today. I dressed warmly as the weather can turn in a minute but for now it is beautiful. We are assigned to our 4 x 4 and met Robin, our driver and guide. She is a very young grandmother who works in the supermarket. She just lost 9 stone on a diet of chocolate, disco and vodka. It worked for her. The first few miles were on tarmac. We passed a military contingent on a land mine clearing mission. Mines from the war are often found and well-paid volunteers from Zimbabwe, anxious to earn hard currency in a country where inflation is ... read more