Falklands, Stanley

Pam's entry:

Finally on land in the Falklands and there is a decidedly British feel to this sweet town...with flowers spilling over and through the fences lining the streets. There is a really cool whalebone arch in front of the cathedral, which is located furthest south in the world.

The night before landing in Stanley, I was reading the material about the island and read a paragraph about a place called Gypsy Cove, thought it sounded neat, loved the name and tucked it away in my mind for the next day. Upon arriving in town, Dez and I went different directions and I found myself walking down the main street next to the shore. A little girl named Luciane came to the edge of her fence and asked me to write my name on her pad of paper as she "enjoys meeting new people." We carried on a lively conversation and then her brother came out and we visited for awhile. They said I should go to Gypsy Cove.

After meeting up with Dez again, we ran into one of the excursion directors from the ship and he said we should go to Gypsy Cove. Needless to say, after lunch I took a taxi to Gypsy Cove. Glad I did, as I found it to be lovely and a bit mesmerizing...to one direction, the beautiful aqua of the sea and to the other, strange and interesting rock formations surrounded by uniquely colored vegetation. Then there were baby penguins sprinkled around, waiting for mum to come back with some food. The path was roped off with signs to keep out of certain areas for concern about leftover mines from the war.

There were also some larger penguins, but on the distant beach and I also saw a couple of dolphins swim in near to shore. I drew a small labyrinth in the dirt and left some ashes...quite an enchanting place, all in all.

janet's entry:

The weather cleared and the next day we were in Stanley, Falklands.

The population is about 1500. The total population on the Falkland

Islands is around 2500. They mint their own coins and issue there

own stamps. The Falkland Pound is equal to British Pounds, Sterling.

Dad, Brad, & I walked around town. By the way, Dad is getting a lot

of exercise and getting around pretty well on these excursions. The

town was small and quaint. Most roofs are red or green metal. The

streets are clean and generally well kept. Most of the residents

drive Range Rovers or similar models. They do get snow there, but it

generally doesn't last. Several homes had vegetable gardens planted

and beautiful flowers blooming. The kids have one week left of

summer vacation.

We were at sea again and went through Drake's Passage. We were

warned that this area is notoriously windy and rough, with some of

the worst sea weather in the world. It lies between the southern

tip of South America at Cape Horn and Antarctica. There is no land

located at this latitude around the earth. We were fortunate to have

good weather and calm seas.

We also passed through the Antarctic Convergence today. This is an

area where the cold waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in

the Southern ocean mix with the sub-tropical waters of the Atlantic

Ocean. The water temperature, density, and salinity changes. This

convergence is visible from space. However, it is not visible while

crossing it. The exact location varies seasonally. A sudden 3-5

degree Fahrenheit drop in temperature indicates the crossing.

We continue to be fascinated by all that we are learning and

experiencing. Tomorrow we will be at King George Island in the South

Shetlands off of Antarctica.

Jan 17, 2006

Show all 24 photos