Chasing Summer –

Leaving Antarctica, the boat headed north to the British Falkland Islands. Argentina and Britain have fought over these small islands since 1833. In 1982, Argentina invaded, and the Falkland war began.

The war lasted 78 days with Britain regaining control over the island.  It it land rich with sheep, wind power, fishing, and oil exploration.

It is also home to 5 penguin species, but I mainly saw Gentoo and King on the Bluff Lagoon.  Gentoo juveniles were plentiful, and several young chicks had hatched. It was noisy chaos as the young ones ran around from nest area to nest area.

The colorful king penguins still had several eggs, and all the chicks were 1-6 days old. Several penguin parents were not fond of the proximity of their neighbors and their chicks and spent a lot of time squawking and pecking at each other.

I also got to see and hear a penguin couple changing who was watching the chick. Lots of loud bugles occurred during the exchange.

Port Stanley is the capital and largest city, with 2,400 of the 3,400 residents living there. There were several shops, pubs, and churches to see. I even visited Beerworks, the local brewery,  even though it wasn’t open. The door was unlocked, and the owner was happy for a visit.

He directed me to Globe Pub, where they have his product on tap. Rockhopper Ale was a blond beer, and Peatmoss was the stout. I prefer stouts, but I tried a half pint of both for $4 each. Both were well done, but I did like the stout better.

Once all the tenders were back on board, the ship took the next two days sailing back up to Buenos Aries, where a new adventure awaits.

Again, the days were filled with eating too much food, trivia, drink tastings, music, and walks around the promenade.