This was our second trip to the Falkland Islands; our first was in 2009 as part of a cruise around Cape Horn. As a result, there was less pressure to ‘see things’ and more of a chance to unwind. Our first stop was at the remote West Point Island to see the Rockhopper penguins. Then we made our return to Stanley where we just wandered the town and tried to find the local parkrun.
West Point Island
The attraction at West Point was the penguins and the albatross. Zodiacs dropped us on an eastern harbor and we hiked about 2.5km across to the cliffs on the western side. The owners of the local farm had a Range Rover that transited the less mobile. It wasn’t a bad hike, just unpleasant to have to do in rubber boots.
Along the cliffs, a number of Rockhopper penguins intermingled with Black-browed albatross. Some anxious juvenile albatross were being fed by a parent up close to us.
Then a trudge back to the farm house where the owners had a decent array of treats laid out. The weather started to change so there was a rush to get everyone back on the ship before the rains hit in earnest. As it was, we got a decent soaking BUT on the return trip I saw a couple dolphins up out of the water on their tails. I thought this was only a stunt for tourist shows and never thought it happened in real life. As with most things of this nature, it was at a distance and there was no opportunity to get a decent image on a bouncing zodiac in the rain.
One gripe: couples who must travel together in the same boat. I mean, yes it is nice to travel together when they are shuttling folks between ship and shore. But it is a mere few moments apart. There were several occasions where the crew are trying to get people back on board and there is space for one more person in a zodiac. Just get on the boat. How many extra trips were needed because less-than-full boats were sent? Makes me crazy.
Stanley
Since we visited the Falklands years ago, we did not have a huge “must-see” list. We were also in port for most of the day so there was no rush. It is a fairly popular cruising destination so we were not the only ship in port.
We chose a morning cruise through the foggy harbor. Our boat was accompanied by some curious Magellanic penguins and, apparently, a dolphin or two that we never saw. The iconic Lady Elizabeth, casually decaying for the past 90 years, looked even more haunting in the mist.
Stanley isn’t that big so we explored on foot. The Falkland Islands Museum was worth the trip. In addition to the typical artifacts and taxidermy (including the extinct Falkland Islands wolf), it details early life in Stanley and in the rural areas (a.k.a. The Camp). There is a good retelling of the 1982 War but the curators stress that – as famous as the event was – it is a small part of the total history of the islands.
Since the Falklands were a good jumping-off point for adventures further south, the museum has a section on Antarctic exploration. Especially cool was the Reclus Hut, a refuge assembled in the Falklands and deployed to the Reclus Peninsula1 in Antarctica. A team over-wintered there in 1957 – the hut has been reconstructed to capture the living conditions at the time.
A recent addition to the area is the British Antarctic Monument. The monument honors those who lost their lives in Antarctica in the name of science. It is quite moving with a simple design of a needle pointing towards the mouth of the harbor where the explorers would have departed Stanley.
On the subject of running…
Stanley is the home to the southernmost parkrun, the Cape Pembroke Lighthouse parkrun. Alas we were there on a Friday and parkrun is famously on a Saturday morning but we did find a kind soul to drive us out there for a look. There is no way someone will accidentally stumble upon this parkrun – it is quite a distance away. It is surprisingly well-attended, considering Stanley’s population.
We also saw the set up for the Standard Chartered Stanley Marathon, scheduled for Sunday. Apart from events run in Antarctica, this is one of the southernmost marathons. The event is four loops around Stanley which would totally break my head2.
- First discovered and named during de Gerlache’s Belgica Expedition. ↩︎
- Thirty-three brave souls completed it in 2025. ↩︎
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