33. The Falklands

The Falklands                   2/21/2018               Wednesday           

57F (14C)   very windy, rainy

Carol and I split up for the Falkland Island tours.

I cannot write about Carol’s experiences but here is what she wrote in her Trip Notes:

Vehicle Swallowing Bog

  

I had pre-booked the Swan Pond Tour, an all day, off-road excursion to see penguins. We were a group of 15 and after a 25-minute tender ride from the ship into Stanley, we were loaded into 4 Land Rovers. I was in the front seat so I could see well and take pictures. We soon went off-road, first over dry, rough terrain, then mud bogs and then spongy peat. We got stuck in one muddy spot and had to be pulled out by another Land Rover.

Diddle Berries

We passed 2 farms, one was owned by the parents of one of the drivers. We were driving over their land when we started going off-road. We crossed a muddy river and many very steep sections while driving to the beach. I saw Diddle berries, good for jam I was told. 

Upland Geese

 We passed many shore birds, large white and brown birds. I saw Upland Geese, the female is pure white, but the male is darker and has a brown neck and head. I saw Petrels which are related to the larger King Cormorants.

King Cormorants

Luckily I Had Help to Scramble Part Way Down This Cliff To See the Rockhoppers

Rockhoppers

The first penguin we saw was the Rockhopper. A group of them were sitting on a craggy cliff and luckily, I was helped by Ian, the driver, down this steep and treacherous cliff. From the lower ledge, I had a better view and was able to get some excellent pictures. These Rock Hoppers are a strange looking bird, black crest and yellow tufts, red eyes and red beak. To see why they are called ‘Rock Hoppers’ click on the link above.

Another Rockhopper

 

Young Magellanic Penguin Still Losing Their Down

 
 We crossed a small shallow lake and saw a group of Magellanic Penguins. These birds have a distinctive, thin, black horseshoe-like line around their chest. They make a sound like a jackass, hence the nickname Jackass Penguin. They live in burrows and we saw many of these.

Crossed the Lake, Then a Steep Climb

We drove off, up the hill, for a washroom break, just one toilet for all.

Southern Sea Lions

Further down on the beach, we saw Southern Sea Lions, huge mammals, all huddled together in a bunch.

It was very windy by now, Ian held on to me so I would not be blown off the cliff.

Back to the shallow lake (pond?) but before crossing it we saw a pair of very large Upland Geese. Again, she was white while he had a brown head and neck.

Sea Cabbage

Once again, back to the single toilet and then back down the hill for a closer look at another Magellanic Penguin Colony and all the burrows they built.

We passed several bunches of Sea Cabbage but no idea what it is used for.

Gentoo Penguins

Next we visited a large area populated by very friendly Gentoo Penguins. They came right up to you if you bent down and remained quiet. They have a distinctive white patch above their eyes. We saw a baby carcass and lots of bones strewn about. The area was littered with jaw bones and lot of down from the young, not yet fully developed Gentoo.

More Gentoos

Back to the town, 3 passengers hopped off at the Post Office and the red, British looking Telephone booth. I got off at Christ Church, saw the Whale Bone Arch and took photos.

It took 90 minutes after that to get back to the ship. But I was lucky, some people had to battle the rough seas in the harbor even after a 3 ½ hour wait on the pier for the tender. The delay was due to high seas and a broken down engine on one of the tenders. The ship, finally, sent a lifeboat that held 150 people instead the usual 90 to speed up the transfers of stranded people.

We were supposed to depart at 5PM but we were delayed and only got underway again just after 7PM.

Sorry Hans, you missed a great tour.

Christ Church Cathedral With Whalebone Arches

Carol's report is more interesting than mine. She saw more. My experience was boring, compared to what Carol did. I just walked through the town, ate lunch at the town pub, visited the monument of the ‘Heroes’ of the last battle defending the Islands, got a feel for how British this town of Port Stanley really is.

Post Office and Phone Booth

I saw nothing that reminded me of Argentina. To my eyes I had just traveled to Great Britain. Traffic drove on the left, the beer was British, even the Post Office, the telephone booth, the houses, all looked British to me.

All the people I spoke to, spoke English, nobody spoke Spanish.

So, I guess, the Falklands are British. I am not so sure the Argentinians have any foundation to their claim that the people on the Island want to be part of Argentina.

I remember the ‘shocking’ news when I heard in 1982 that the Argentinian Army had invaded the Falklands. Before these headlines, I did not even know there was such a place as ‘the Falklands’.

I am not taking sides, but here is my thinking:  let the people who live on these Islands vote as to which country they want to belong. I think that is fair. You can set a % majority for the outcome.

Monument To the Heros

Not more than 50% want to be English, but let’s say if more than 80% want to stay British, let the Falklands belong to Great Britain.  And then………. shut up Argentina.

I think it’s the best way to determine who owns what.

The monument to the ‘heroes’ of the last battle was a bit strange. The relief on the monument shows scenes of a ‘modern’

Part of the Monument

warfare battle. No old fashioned canons, but helicopters and jets. It made me a bit uneasy that those scenes were ‘glorified’ on a monument and those fallen were called ‘heroes’.

I just don’t know, it felt wrong to me.

Ah, and the prices on the Island?  Everything was quoted in U.S. Dollars to me: 

One beer cost $9.? A small order of fries was $6.? (That was my lunch for the day.)

British Pub and Another Phone Booth

Five British Pounds for 50 internet minutes!  Sorry, it’s a rip off.  They would not take any other currency but Pounds. I had to use my credit card to buy 50 minutes of internet time. I went to a Supermarket, so that is what ‘regular’ local customers would pay, too. 

I am happy to have seen it, and…. Great Britain, you can keep it.  Or maybe not!

The strategic location at the bottom of the Atlantic might be of some use, if ever there is a conflict. Otherwise I cannot see the value of having the Falklands. I see them as a financial burden, without much benefit to anybody.

Argentina is much closer to those Islands but even for them, what is the use of having them. They are forlorn, sitting there and are being only really useful as a breeding ground for wild life. It used to be uninhabited before the European Countries, many of them, ‘owned’ it.

Listen to me… make it like Antarctica… nobody owns it…. It’s cheaper not to ‘own’ it. Let the people living there now die out. No they cannot pass it on, it’s the end of the road. Let it go back to nature.

This would solve any conflict.

32. At Sea Heading Towards Port Stanley

At Sea Heading Towards Port Stanley          64 F (18C)    Rain

We are attending Destination Lectures, to know more about the town(s) we are going to in the next few days. Humberto is still on board; he seems to sail with us all around the continent.

Even the Captain is still with us. It seems his wife and son left the ship in Buenos Aires. I hear him on the speaker system, every noon telling us exactly where we are on Earth. 

We are heading for the Falkland Island group. The debate in Argentina is, of course, that it is called the Malvinas. There are other regions Argentina has in dispute. Chile claims some areas, too. It makes some interesting reading, but we, as passengers do not care one way or the other.

There are lots of things about Argentina that are a bit weird:

Statue of a Tehuelche In His Battle Paint and Mask

The prices for houses are quoted and sold in U.S. dollars.

Wool prices are negotiated and sold in U.S. dollars.

The natives of this area, the Tehuelche, were tall when the Spanish/Portuguese arrived, taller than the Iberians. The natives used large skin shoes on their feet and left big footprints. So the Iberian discoverers, seeing those foot prints thought the people, the Tehuelche, had big feet. The word for big feet in Portuguese is: Patagon. Hence the name, Patagonia.

There are lots of ‘dry’ lakes in Patagonia…. The bottom of the lake is formed by clay. So when it rains, there is a huge lake, but it stays only for a bit, before the winds dry out the lakes and then we see the just dry lakes.  Some call them ghost lakes.

Gaucho

The area of Patagonia we went through yesterday is the home of the gaucho. A kind of cowboy, but he is more of a herdsman than a cow driver. A gaucho is a semi-nomad, living in an area for some time, then leaving when the sheep leave, or when the cattle leave, or the horses…. depending on what he herds. 

There are many stories about gauchos. One is about a gaucho named Gil a kind of Robin Hood guy. Click on the blue lettering, it gives you a nice story to read.

Gaucho and His Mate

Another story is about a gaucho who had 4 wives, all sisters; he saw them all separately during the year, depending on where he grazed his flocks. He was a busy gaucho.

Most trees in Patagonia were planted; most are used as wind breaks.

Tribute to the Dinosaurs

Scientists believe that Patagonia was once a large lagoon. Many sea fossils are found here, as well as a bunch of dinosaur’s fossils, too.

The Welsh made a success out of going to S. America. Today besides Spanish, the Welsh language is being taught in school. Festivals of poetry are held within communities. The old ‘Bard’ is alive here. There are Bard Competitions every year in most of the towns around the Welsh areas.

The Welsh language is used in everyday life.

There are some problems with alcohol, especially with teenagers. Lately drugs have taken over.

Squatters, mainly from Bolivia (90%), are a problem. Large shanty towns are strewn about, threatening the long established towns. They come because Argentina offers free education, even for foreigners. Yes, Argentina has immigration problems, too. 

The main river, the Chubut, is dangerous to swim in. Many eddies, undertows and ice cold water makes it not suitable for swimming. 

After the big floods happened in Patagonia in the 1960’s many people left, most went to Toronto, Canada.

There is not much wild life in the arid desert around here, just a few snakes. 

In years past, vegetation was used for toilet paper, there was no such thing as ‘paper’ for that.

Ah, Argentina…. what a country.

The pope is from Argentina, but you knew that, right?

Where they used to hunt for whales, today it’s a conservation area. Yet fishermen still fish for squid, mussels, shrimp and hake. But the whales are mostly left alone. The new threats to the whales are plastic bags, which look like Jelly fish when in the water, but cannot be digested by the whales.

Argentina…. you have so many things to think about. So many problems you have never addressed.

Eva Peron

Before 1920, Argentina was economically way ahead of the U.S. Worldwide, it was one of the strongest countries. But then the Socialists had their say, they wanted to ‘help’ the poor, especially the Perons were a disaster for Argentina. You all know about Eva…, nice story but in the long run it impoverished more people than it ever helped.    

Eva's Plaque

I had trouble buying 3 loose stamps in a Post Office in Argentina for postcards a few years ago. It took me 2 hours standing in line. 

When you go to an ATM in Argentina, if it works, it will only give you a certain amount of money, that is it, no more, it knows your credit card.

Banks are closed, 3 times a week and weekends, of course …. And when the banks open, they only open up in the afternoon. How do you do business that way?

 Ah……. Argentina.

Here is a good read about Argentina.