Stanley, Falklands 1/22/26 Thursday Day 4

Today we stopped at Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas in the local Spanish dialect), on the island of East Falkland. We took the Zodiacs to shore and had about four hours of free time to explore. There are about 3600 inhabitants in the Falklands, and about 40% are native born Falkland Islanders. There is also a high number of immigrants from the UK, as well as some immigrants from Chile and the Philippines. The UK also operates RAF Mount Pleasant, located east of Stanley. The base is the newest purpose built RAF station, and was opened in 1985, after the events of the Falklands War in 1982, to replace the former RAF station at Port Stanley Airport. The Brits are pretty serious about maintaining their sovereignty here, while Argentina still asserts that it is the rightful owner of the Falkland Islands. I think both sides have agreed to disagree for now. 

We enjoyed our walk around the town, and we mailed a post card from the post office. We ate lunch at Groovy’s, a popular local hangout, where we had fish ‘n chips and fried squid. Squid fishing is popular here, and squid is one of the local dishes. We also visited the National Museum of the Falkland Islands, walked through the Victory Green area, and saw the memorial to the UK troops and the three civilians who died in the Falkland War. We also saw the original telephone switchboards, the post office, and the offices of the Penguin News, which is the local newspaper. The people were super friendly and we had a lovely day in Stanley. As we were leaving on the Zodiac, we saw a pair of Southern Sea Lions basking in the sun at the dock. The weather is still beautiful and sunny at 59 deg F. 

Back on the ship, our Expedition Leader Ali gave a presentation on living in the Falklands. She’s from the UK and was a teacher here for about 16 years before becoming a polar guide. Her stories of being “stuck” in the Falklands on a remote farm during COVID, and returning to work as a teacher during the pandemic, were quite interesting. You need to be pretty self-sufficient to live in a remote area like she did. I think Ali was purpose built for this sort of thing. She’s amazing. 

We just finished dinner and are back in the cabin. We are now on our way to South Georgia, the island where Ernest Shackleton is buried. We will have two sea days before arriving, and the winds are picking up again. The little ship that could is starting to rock and roll, but we are prepared and are more accustomed to it now. It definitely takes some getting used to. We’ve been on several ocean cruises and you usually can’t even tell you’re on a ship, but on this small ship with no stabilizers, you sure feel everything. 

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