World Falkland Islands Stanley

Jim & Petra's World Travels South America / Antarctica

Day 12 - Port Stanley, Falkland Islands Feb 22, 2008

Land Ho!

We awoke to find ourselves entering Stanley harbor on our approach to Stanley. Originally known as Port Stanley, at some point in time, they decided to drop the "Port" from its moniker. It is still a port, and it is located in Stanley, so anyway . . .

Stanley harbor is not deep enough to allow cruise ships to dock, so we had to tender in. This is a process that requires passengers to be ferried in to port in small boats. Not as easy as walking down the gang plank, but not terribly difficult either. Although it was sunny and pleasant as we tendered in to Stanley, everyone was bundled up in winter garb, in anticipation of a predicted storm.

Stanley is located on East Falkland Island. With a population of about 2,500 inhabitants, it is the hub of East Falkland's road network. It is also the main shopping center on the islands. Attractions in Stanley include the Falkland Islands Museum and Government House, built in 1845, it is home to the Governor of the Falkland Islands. Stanley is probably best known for its whalebone arch, a totem pole, several war memorials and the shipwrecks in its harbor.

The Falkland Islands consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, together with 776 smaller islands. Claimed by both England and Argentina, the Falkland Islands were the focal point of a brief war in 1982, when they were invaded by Argentina. After the two-month-long undeclared Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, which resulted in the defeat and withdrawal of Argentine forces, there has been strong economic growth in both fisheries and tourism.

There are several pubs, hotels & guest houses, restaurants, and churches including the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral, the southernmost cathedral in the world. It is the cathedral which actually makes tiny Stanley into a city. Don't know why that is.

The town hall also serves as a post office, courthouse, library and dance hall. The police station houses the only prison in the Falklands and has a capacity of thirteen in the cells.

The main attractions for cruise ship passengers, however, are penguins.

Since I managed to botch up our shore excursion reservations in Stanley, we ended up wandering around town on foot. Stanley is very small, so we were able to take in pretty much all of the attractions Stanley has to offer except, of course, the penguins.

Since we were in the United Kingdom, we decided it would be appropriate for us to patronize one of the local establishments and sample the "Fish & Chips." The first place we tried was packed to the rafters, so we tried a somewhat larger place up the street that was not so crowded.

We were seated immediately and ordered lunch. Since it was a warm day, and we had such good luck with the Argentinian beer, I asked the waiter to recommend a local ale. I was informed that there is no brewery on the Islands, so I opted for a bottle of British stout. It was good, but not as good as we had in Buenos Aires.

After lunch, we tried to catch a local bus out to a nearby point where we had been told a colony of penguins resided, but the line was long and I was concerned that we may not make it back in time to catch the last tender back to the ship. So, we walked around town a bit more, then headed back to the Star Princess.