I needed more motion sickness pills during the “swelly” crossing from South Georgia to the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas. And I was not the only one. The ship’s crew placed motion sickness bags at the ready, tucked into the ship’s railings. Fortunately, I did not need them. Others definitely did!

Out and About in Port Stanley

We woke to stillness. Overnight, a pilot came aboard to guide the Greg Mortimer into Port Stanley, to a prime spot at the pier. While the local immigration officer inspected and stamped our passports, we went on deck to photograph the nearby, colourful town of Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands.

We also spotted several greenhouses just behind the pier. These are used to grow vegetables, fruit, flowers and plants. I can only imagine the cost and scarcity of such produce if it all came by boat and plane.

Once we’d all cleared immigration, a few passengers opted to disembark via the gangway and go for a run along the shoreline path. We chose a variant of the Gypsy Cove expedition – bus ride to the cove, followed by an 8 km (5 mi) walk back along the shoreline trails. For the first time since boarding the Greg Mortimer 17 days earlier, we could wear our own hiking shoes/boots ashore. Bliss! 🙂

Gypsy Cove

Gypsy Cove, part of the Cape Pembroke National Nature Reserve, is a 6.5 km (4 mi) bus ride from the pier. Once off the bus, we had a short briefing about staying on designated/established paths and a reminder to keep an eye out for interpretive signs. After that, we were free to move along at our own pace.

With it’s broad, white sand beach surrounded by grasses, shrubs and blooming gorse, Gypsy Cove looks quite tropical. But the Magellanic penguins clustered on the beach told a different story! As did the chilly breeze coming in over the turquoise water. This was our first encounter with Magellanic penguins, also known as “jackass” penguins for their braying sounds!

After getting our fill of the beautiful views from the observation deck, we turned west, overland, to start our 8 km walk back to the pier. Along the way we saw remnants of shelters and emplacements dating back to the 1982 Falklands War. Beginning in 2009, an intensive de-mining effort was undertaken, primarily by specialists from Zimbabwe. The Falkland Islands were declared “mine free” in 2020, by which time many Zimbabwean temporary workers became permanent residents of Stanley, bringing their families over to join them. So that there’s now a sizable Zimbabwean community in this outpost of the British empire.

Our hike took us past a few wildflowers.

And we spotted a variety of birds, including turkey vultures, gulls, Falklands (flightless) Steamer ducks, finches and swallows.

The weather started deteriorating as we rounded Whalebone Cove. It’s a good thing we put our rainshells into our small daypacks before disembarking.

My nerves were a bit frazzled by two fighter planes doing loops over the harbor as we neared the pier. They flew high overhead and circled three times before heading back to wherever they’d come from. An aircraft carrier?

We saw a few signs that for some, the Falklands War did not resolve the question of sovereignty over these islands. A few public buses in Buenos Aires, Argentinas had stickers about Islas Malvinas. In the town of Stanley, one window had a hand-lettered sign saying that Argentines aren’t welcome unless they agree that the Falkland Islands are British territory. I’m still thinking about that. The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know enough to hold an informed opinion on this topic.

Town of Stanley

We reached the Greg Mortimer just in time to catch the next shuttle bus into town. Our first objective? Lunch! I’d done some research last evening, so we headed for a pub called Groovy’s, for the fish and chips. We knew we’d chosen well when 8 or 10 of the expedition staff showed up at the same place. And another 15 or 18 passengers, too. The food did not disappoint. And the service was prompt enough that we had lots of time to explore the town and walk back to the ship.

Here’s a gull, watching Mr GeoK adjust his camera gear under the whalebone arch.

Me, at an Antarctic memorial on the sea wall.

Satellite communication dishes, on a hill just above the Governor’s house. Makes you think about just how isolated these islands are.

Patagonian Crested ducks.

There’s a fine museum in Stanley. This was a great place to spend an hour getting out of the rain. I particularly enjoyed watching some documentaries about the local fishing industry, and steps being taken to try to counteract the big multinational fishing factory boats. There was also a life-sized replica of the type of hut constructed by the early Antarctic explorers. Here’s Mr GeoK beside a wide diorama showcasing some of the local birds.

After finding one geocache, we started back to the pier. Mother Nature put on quite a lightning show across the harbour. Fortunately, the closer we got to the pier, the more the weather improved. By the time the pilot came aboard to handle the navigation out of the harbor, it was quite lovely. We clocked more than 25,000 steps while out and about in Port Stanley, our highest daily count over the 20 days between embarkation and disembarkation.

Zodiac Landing and Hike – West Point Island

Did you know that the vast majority of islands that make up the Falkland Islands are privately owned? Welcoming cruise ship passengers is most likely a source of income for the owners. I wish I’d thought to ask about this when we were on board.

We woke to blue sky and reasonably strong winds, anchored just off West Point Island in Hope Bay. After another hearty breakfast, we waited for our deck to be called to the locker room/zodiac launch. Then away we went to West Point Island.

Our objective? To hike up and over the hump of the island to a large, mixed colony of Black-browed albatross and Southern Rockhopper penguins. Once again, we were required to wear our borrowed muckboots, expedition jackets and PFDs. Bio-security measures were still in place. We dipped our boots in a sanitizer solution before disembarking, on landing, before entering the area nearest the bird colony, after leaving the area nearest the bird colony, before reboarding the zodiac and again upon reboarding the ship.

For the handful of less-abled passengers, a couple of Range Rovers were available. This allowed every passenger aboard the option to see the extensive bird colony.

Other Birds

We saw quite a few other birds during our walk across the island, starting with a pair of Long-tailed Meadowlarks. The male has a beautiful red breast.

We spotted Upland and Kelp Geese, Turkey Vultures and a few songbirds.

We got some great photos of curious Jonny Rooks (local nickname for Striated Caracara). The Striated Caracara are considered the most intelligent bird. Given some of the behaviors we’ve witnessed in Common Ravens, that’s saying something.

Black-browed Albatross and Southern Rockhopper Penguin Colony

Expedition cruise ships have been stopping at West Point Island since 1968, when the late Lars-Eric Lindblad brought the Chilean government vessel Navarino to the Falklands with the first cruise tourists. Today, it’s one of the most popular cruise ship destinations in the Falkland Islands, outside the capital Port Stanley. The large, mixed colony of Black-browed albatrosses and Southern Rockhopper penguins is the main attraction.

Black-browed Albatross

Southern Rockhopper Penguins

All too soon, it was time to trek back across the island…

…for a taste of the legendary West Point hospitality that helps make this a favorite stop with expedition cruise lines. Kicki and Theis, caretakers of West Point Island, gave us a warm welcome and put on an amazing spread of tea, coffee and homemade goodies.

Zodiac Landing and Hike – Saunders Island

Our expedition leader lined up an amazing final expedition to wrap up our cruise. Our landing site at Saunders Island was remarkable. We were first to leave bootprints on a long, wide sandy beach brushed smooth by recent tide and wave action.

Also unexpected? The mix of penguins here! We saw Gentoo, King, Chinstrap, Magellanic and Southern Rockhopper penguins on one excursion.

Southern Rockhopper penguin and Imperial cormorant colony

Once we reached the far end of the beach, we started a gentle climb to a mixed colony of Southern Rockhopper penguins and Imperial cormorants.

For their size, Imperial cormorants have small wings, which makes them somewhat ungainly flyers.

The Rockhopper Penguins did some hopping…and defending of their nests from overflying Brown skuas, Striated caracaras and Red-billed gulls.

We witnessed one Brown skua successfully steel an egg and carry it away from the colony where it was forced to share with two more Brown skuas.

Gentoo Penguin Colony

After watching the Southern Rockhoppers for quite a while, we decided that if we hustled, we had just enough time to walk past the Gentoo penguin colony in the sandy neck of Saunders Island. To our delight, we spotted a few Gentoo chicks among the nesting adults.

Also in this area, we had a few minutes to watch King penguin pairs. They didn’t seem too inclined to make “couples friends.”

Back to Ship

We spotted a Magellanic oystercatcher and a Falklands flightless Steamer duck while walking back to the zodiac landing area.

Expedition staff had their work cut out for them when we boarded our zodiac. They had to bring it fairly close to shore so we wouldn’t get water in our just-below-knee-height muckboots when the big waves rolled in. But then they had to manhandle the fully-loaded zodiac into deep enough water that the outboard motors could be lowered enough to actually move the RIB. Four big guys dressed in waders and waterproofs gave it everything they had and were eventually successful. Imagine doing this for a dozen zodiacs!

And they were under time pressure. The captain was calling for return to boat. By the time the last zodiac was back to the ship, the anchor chain was fully out (10 shackles) and the ship was at risk of dragging anchor. It was an exciting end to two amazing days of adventure in the Falkland Islands!

This is the third installment in a series of posts all about our Nov/Dec 2023 expedition cruise aboard Aurora’s Greg Mortimer. Part I describes our adventures in Antarctica. In Part II, we move on to South Georgia. Stay tuned for one final installment, which will describe the ship and shipboard activities in a little more detail. And I’ll also include a brief description of our time in Ushuaia and Buenos Aires, before and after the cruise.