The Circle of Life in South Georgia and Antarctica - Penguins, Seals and Others

Warning: this post contains explicit content some readers may find disturbing.

Looking back at the expedition now, one thing that surprises me is how the most extraordinary things were so simple and ordinary in the wilderness.

Life and death should be extraordinary events in our city lives. I mean, how many of you witness death, even for animals, on a regular basis? I certainly haven't seen a dying or dead animal (except for that time when I hit a badger, or at least I think it was a badger, at 70mph). Yet, when we saw injured, dying or dead animals in Antarctica, it was just so natural, so matter of course.

Each of the animals in this post had their own stories. They may not be the same stories as what I am telling here. Nevertheless, they each deserve a few words, and a moment of our appreciation. Appreciation for the gift of life, and all the opportunities and responsibilities that come with it.

Nature can sometimes be very real and in your face. We came across this gentoo on our first day in South Georgia. It was quite clear that he would not heal from the wound without any help. And there was no help we could give, other than possibly killing it to put it out of its misery. It was only a matter of hours, perhaps a day, before he became too weak to defend against infection, or the giant petrel that was perched waiting only metres away.

Our expedition in Feb/Mar 2013 coincided with South Georgia's cull of all reindeer on the island. Originally an invasive species introduced by the Norwegians over 100 years ago, their recent explosion in numbers caused by a decline in the human population and hunting on the island. This has in turned caused a number of problems to the local flora and fauna. Ironically the high profile cull was carried out by professionals hired from Norway.

We came across reindeer carcasses almost every day. This one had most of its meat stripped out, organs removed, leaving behind the skeleton, a pool of blood, and a bullet hole.

Sometimes the reindeer is just left, to the delight of scavenger skuas.

 

Derelict whaling stations scatter across South Georgia. Most of them are closed to the public due to risk of asbestos. The only one that was open to us was in Gryvitken. These vats were used to boil the whale blubber to extract whale oil, once the giant whales were carved up...

A photo found in the Gryvitken museum depicting the process of skinning and carving a whale using a range of tools once it was taken back to the station.

There were lots of fascinating history in the museum. In order to make the process of hunting whales more efficient, whaling ships harpooned a floater and a tracking device into the whale so they could keep it afloat and track it later while they move on to make another kill, and so on, until the end of the day when they return to tow them all back to base.

A set of whale bones found at Port Lockroy in the Antarctica Peninsula.

Two gentoo chicks seeking warmth from their mother. It was with almost certainty that the smaller one will not survive. Winter is looming and it just isn't big enough to survive the cold, nor is it able to compete with the older sibling for meals from the parents.

Dead penguin = good meal for scavenger skuas

Just to end on a slightly happier note, this is how they make little penguins.

Elephant seal sex - South Georgia and Antarctica

Two juvenile elephant seals play fighting, getting practise for real fights for their hareems in future

Warning: this post contains explicit content some readers may find disturbing. 

But I'm sure you'll read on anyway.

So by the time we got to our final day in South Georgia, we were all pretty much maxed out on smelly penguins covered in shit, and slightly fed up with having growling fur seals chasing after us. We were definitely looking forward to heading down to the Peninsula to see more ice and other wildlife on offer there. Nevertheless, we still wanted to get the most out of our final landing on this beautiful island that had so far filled us with so many surprises and lasting memories.

South Georgia Day 5: Golden Harbour

What we went on to witness was certainly memorable, whether it was a beautiful sight is open to debate.

Golden Harbour was home to the second largest mixed penguin colony that we saw in South Georgia. Amongst the penguins were lots of juvenile fur seals that were too hormonal and wanted a fight every time something or someone went near them. Our walking sticks were definitely needed here. The main characters of this episode however, were the elephant seals.

Specifically two elephant seals, which we came across almost as soon as we landed. 

The larger one was a male juvenile, weighing in roughly 2-2.5 tonnes. The female was much smaller. Experience told us that females are generally smaller than the males, but this one was quite a lot smaller, at least half his size, presumably because she was also a lot younger.

Then, without any warning, before we (and she) realised what was happening, he climbed on top of her. Almost immediately she tried to escape and wriggle herself free. But he was too strong and too big. He pinned her down with his right flipper. She struggled a little, but there was nothing she could do.

For the several minutes that ensued, we watched, awestruck. There was nothing we could do either, except for taking photos and filming the whole event.

Once it was over, he fell to the ground with a thump, and she finally got away. Still in shock and fear, or fearing it would happen again, she quickly moved away from the pack and spent the rest of the afternoon isolated.

That was one of the cruellest moments of our expedition.

Antarctica Itinerary - Location Tracker

I've written a few posts about the ice, penguins and some practical information about the trip, but you might ask, how do they all fit in? Here's my South Georgia / Antarctica itinerary:

February
8th - day trip to Volunteer Point, north eastern tip of the Falklands.

9th - 13th - Boarded the Golden Fleece. Sailing day and night from the Falklands to South Georgia. Spent Chinese New Year (10th) at sea - first time in my life I didn't celebrate it in the slightest as I was too busy trying not to be sea sick. 

14th - first landing of the trip at Elsehul, where some of the group saw a live penguin being taken and literally ripped apart from a group of petrels. It was also the only one time we saw an albatross colony. Our second landing in the afternoon was at Prion Island, where we were ironically chased by baby fur seals along the only man-made walkway we encountered on the whole trip. I also saw a penguin with a gaping wound on its side; I was pretty sure it wouldn't survive to the next day.

15th - landed at Salisbury Plain in the morning. It was breathtaking, metaphorically and literally - I could smell the pink poo when we were still at sea. The biggest King colony in South Georgia, there were an estimated over 200,000 of them. Later on we passed Prince Olav Harbour, which is a derelict whaling station, and landed at Posession Bay, where we saw a male fur seal trying his luck with a female. She wouldn't have any of it.

16th - we woke up to what was arguably the most spectacular sight on the whole trip: a towering iceberg over 100m tall in the morning mist. Apparently given its size it was likely to have been broken off from the Ross icesheet over 10 years ago. After that we started at Fortuna Bay and trekked part of Shackleton's trail to Stromness Bay, which is also a derelict whaling station. Sliding down ice slopes was pretty good fun!

17th - we spent the whole day at Gryvitken, resting and refilling the fresh water tank. Gryvitken is about 1km from South Georgia's capital, King Edward Point. We visited the museum, sent a few postcards from the post office, and did some trekking - where we saw Ernest Shackleton's grave, jumped over some pretty feisty elephant seals, and saw the remains of a crash helicopter from the Falklands War. Eric also taught me some night photography techniques here.

18th - this was our last day in South Georgia. We first landed at Ocean Harbour where we saw the Beyard derelict ship, followed by seeing another large King penguin colony and a lot of aggressive fur seals at Golden Harbour. It got cold too, and we were hit with snow showers in the afternoon.

19th - 23rd - five days of sailing through the Scotia Sea was gruelling; I spent the first two days lying down to avoid sea sickness, despite 3 different types of anti sea sickness remedies. Minimal eating (no appetite) and minimal drinking (to avoid getting up for the toilet) were not pleasant. Otherwise, the days were spent on scrabble, card games, films and processing photos.

24th - to take a break from sailing, we landed at Elephant Island, where we saw glaciers collapsing into the sea. It was also our first encounter of chinstrap penguins, who were very loud, and a leopard seal, which went on to successfully hunt a penguin (which I didn't see). This was also where I successfully caught fish using reindeer meat as bait.

25th - another day of sailing

26th - officially set foot on Antarctica. Seeing leopard seals, humpback and minke whales up close to the boat at Cierva Cove was pretty cool, and very different from the penguins and fur seals I had been used to. Second landing was Enterprise Island, where we trekked up a hill but ran into a brief snow shower which looked like a white-out. This turned out to a fun afternoon with snow ball fighting and ending in a beautiful sunset and moonrise.

27th - I missed what would eventually become the only opportunity of taking sunrise shots in Antarctica. Eric's "sleep when you're dead" motto still resonates. We sailed to Spigot Peak, which we climbed just so we could slide down the ice slope. Having a BBQ afterwards was pretty awesome, especially with a glacier in the background. In between the sailing we also crash landed on a iceberg with some dopey crabeater seals. Afternoon was spent at Curverville Island, where we saw a lot of Gentoo penguins, some with very recently hatched chicks.

28th - it was a cold miserable day. I got wet from the Paradise Harbour landing, and lost my beanie hat on the way up to the top of the hill. I really liked that hat. At Port Lockroy we sent the last batch of postcards from Antarctica before the post box closed for 6 months. The small museum and gift shop were also a nice change from penguins, seals and whales.

March
1st - landing was not a priority today, as we spotted a small pod of killer whales, or orcas, in the morning and spent an hour or two chasing them. We then saw an iceberg breaking apart and flipping in the afternoon, arguably the most spectacular sight on the whole trip. We did land on Ronge Island just to complete the day. 

2nd - last day in the Peninsula, we visited Hunt Island where we hiked to the top of a ridge with incredible views. More humpbacks got up close and started showing off, whilst two groups of Gentoos jumped for their lives as our boat approached their iceberg. Two more landings in the afternoon: one on an iceberg where we took jumping shots; the final one was full of blue eyed cormorants. 

3rd - away from Antarctica we landed on Deception Island, which had a very large colony of chinstrip penguins (allegedly 120,000 pairs). The famous Sewing Needles stuck out of the water tall and high. Then landing at Whalers Bay was like landing on Mars. The volcanic island also offered geothermally heated sand and water - perfect to bathe it!

4th - to allow the storm to by-pass us, we spent another day at one of the South Shetland Islands - Half Moon Island and Edinburgh Hill.

5th - 8th - we crossed the infamous Drake Passage, but by now I was used to sailing in the rough sea, so the 8m swells didn't bother me too much. I even managed to get a few shots of passing albatrosses and petrels.

9th - 12th - we were here right in the centre of a historic moment, witnessing the overwhelming 'Yes' majority in the Falklands referendum. The islanders celebrated, although without much style or alcohol. I even stood next to a group of chavs.

Czech-ed in!

There's still a lot of to write about Antarctica, but think we all need a quick break and some hot weather! May is a good time of the year to visit Czech - comfortably hot at around 25°C during the day and 12-14°C at night.

This was actually the second time I've visited Czech Republic and again with the main purpose being to attend a Kempo seminar, sightseeing was limited, but we did have plenty of time to sample the famous Czech beer and meats!

Like the UK, Czech is one of several countries in the EU that have not taken the Euro as its currency. I made the mistake of exchanging £200 worth of Euros last year but I wasn't going to fall for that again.

Ben and I landed at the Prague Ruzyně International Airport at 10.30pm and despite having a piece of oversized hold baggage that came through separately, we were out on a bus to the city centre within half an hour. The modestly sized airport was efficient and fully equipped with automatic biometric gates.

We took bus 119 from just outside the arrivals lounge to Dejvická which is the terminal station on the metro line A (green). A single ticket cost 40Kč (Czech koruna) from the bus driver but if you had 110Kč in coins you can buy a 24-hour ticket from the machines, which gets you on the metro, buses and trams.  

Note: your ticket is only valid if you stick it in the validating machine (on the bus/tram or at the metro entrance) which puts a time-stamp on it. You only need to do it once.

Day 1: Prague
The Wallenstein Garden and Palace (free entry) is situated right next to the Malostranská metro station, on the west side of Charles Bridge. As we were pressed for time, we only managed a 30 minute super tour of the grounds, capturing the fountain, peacocks, bronze statues and the artificial dripstone wall.

We wanted to see the castle as well but ran out of time as we had to travel to Karlovy Vary, but just to set the scene of the food you should expect, here's half a duck I had for lunch, which was almost twice the size of any ducks I've had in the UK!

Day 2 & 3: Karlovy Vary
We spent most of the 2nd and 3rd day at the training seminar, but managed to spend an hour or two walking around KV before we left. KV is a small town about 130km (2 hours) west of Prague, famous for its spa resort rich in iron and minerals. There is an abundance of hot spring taps in the town centre for you to taste (quite salty in my opinion), but if you want a proper spa you'll need to check in to a local hotel. 

As our friend and organiser of the training seminar is a police officer, we were put up in the police station, which has a training room covered with judo mats and had all the martial arts training equipment one would ever need. We slept on the mats and used kicking pads as pillows, which was a much cooler (if somewhat uncomfortable) option than spa hotels.

KV is overrun by Russians. I'm not sure whether they were just tourists, or whether they've permanently settled here, but there were loads of them, to the point where some of the billboards in town would put Russian first, then Czech, then English. Of course this is what my Czech friends told me - I myself didn't know any better whether the people/language were Czech or Russian! 

To my surprise KV is twinned with quite a few different places around the world (although none in the UK, I would expect Bath to be the top pick).

Apart from the beer and meat, if there's one thing you must try when you're in Czech, is a liqueur called Becherovka (38%) produced in KV, which is supposed to be good for your health (obviously only if drunk in moderation) due to its herbal ingredients:

For lunch on both Saturday and Sunday, we went to a local pub near the training venue, Ventura Pub Evropak - highly recommended and is where a lot of the locals hang out. The Pilsner Urquell was delicious and only cost £1.50, but the deal breaker was the meat dishes. After two days of training, I decided to go for the "roasted pork knee (about 1.5kg) with old Bohemian garnish", only for 214Kč which is about £7! You really have to see if for yourself:

It was epic, the most meat I've had in one sitting, and even a whole weekend of training couldn't justify it. 


Day 4: Prague
I spent Monday having another go at sightseeing with Ben, and the weather was perfect for it. We started at the National Museum and worked our way to the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge and finally the castle and St Vitus Cathedral (sadly we didn't have enough time or korunas to go into the buildings). 

I did notice there were quite a few people whizzing around town on segways, which really annoyed me as they were too big and they generally didn't have any awareness of other pedestrians. I risk sounding old and grumpy but segways really isn't my idea of fun.

Wenceslas Square in front of the National Museum

 Local cinnamon rolls

 Praha ham

The Astronomical Clock, the 3rd oldest in the world and still going!

 Looking at Charles Bridge

 Entrance to the castle

 A gargoyle on the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral

Beautiful structure of St Vitus cathedral

Ben was flagging a bit after much walking around in the sun, so we decided to sit out the rest of the afternoon with Czech's finest. Ben ordered us a large beer each. Usually a large meant 0.5L but this place served 1L, not the worst mistake though. The location was great, down a quiet side street just outside the castle compound, although you do pay a premium at 350Kč for each beer (compared to an average of 50Kč for 0.5L we've been paying, this was quite a lot!) I was half way through munching the bowl of crisps until Ben noticed a sticker on the bowl saying 45Kč. I stopped eating and luckily either it was actually free or there was enough left in the bowl for them not to charge us, as we were down to our last pennies!
 

I think it would have been nice to have spent more time travelling around the country. There's so much in Prague that I haven't seen, and definitely lots more outside the capital around this former communist state. If I come back for the seminar again next year, I'm definitely going to take a whole week to explore. That said, this weekend was all about Kempo training, catchning up with old friends, drinking beer and eating meat, which were all very enjoyable.

Where to stay in the Falklands - review of accommodation

I merely spent 2 days in the Falklands pre-Antarctic and 3 days post-Antarctic, and both stays were with the Waterfront, so whilst I'd like to offer some observations, this is by no means a comprehensive guide or review of the many choices of accommodation in the Falklands.

Also a huge thank you to Simon Smith and James Dong for their contributions to this post, both of which have made this far more interesting and rounded.
 
Booking accommodation in the Falklands is straight-forward - there's practically only one website listing on the internet that has a comprehensive-(ish) list of options: the Falklands Tourist Board. Stanley is the capital and has most choices, but there are also lots of interesting places to visit outside the capital (the "camp"). The relatively short timeframe of my 2 stays in Stanley meant it made more sense for me to use the capital as a base and take day trips.

The Waterfront Hotel by Will Ng - overall 6.5/10
I had pre-booked the Paddock B&B for my pre-Antarctic stay (through booking.com) but to a very pleasant surprise 2 days before arrival, I received an email from the general manager who had kindly upgraded me to a double room at the Waterfront Hotel (and kept the room rate the same as the original B&B, which was a saving of around £30 per night). Score, what a great start to the trip!

I actually stayed at the Waterfront twice, pre and post Antarctica. The hotel has 2 floors. The ground floor has a cafe and dining area, a conservatory, a lounge with sofas and armchairs, and a bathroom. The bathroom has the only bath tub in the hotel, but I was told I shouldn't use it during the day in case other people wanted to use the toilet.

All the rooms were on the first floor. On my first visit I was in a double en-suite, which had a small shower pod and a small toilet cubicle. On my second stay I was in a standard single (£20/night cheaper), which also had a sink and toilet cubicle, but used a shared shower. The rooms were basic but comfortable, although I did notice a lack of tea or coffee making facilities. The TV only had 3 channels: the BFBS which is the British Forces channel, Warner Brothers and a kids channel. I wasn't sure whether these were the only available channels in the Falklands, or just what the hotel offered.

Whilst the staff was very helpful and friendly, both my stays could have been a lot more comfortable, to the extent that it felt like I slept better in a smaller bed whilst being rocked and thrown about at sea. The double room I had pre-departure seriously needed their windows repaired and sealed. There were gaps around the edges and the wind just whistled as it blew through the gaps all night. My second stay was even worse. There is only one telephone in the hotel which is conveniently placed in the hallway on the ground floor. The staff's last shift usually ended around 11pm, so when the phone kept ringing at 4am, practically everyone in the hotel was woken up by the ringing. This happened for 2 nights in a row, and I wasn't impressed (even though I was told it was a one-off as there were lots of journalists there to report on the Falklands referendum).

The hotel has a nice cafe which seats around 30 people. Breakfast is quite straight-forward, with a choice of cereals and muesli, and a full English breakfast to order, although it was limited to one rasher of bacon, one sausage, one egg, some beans and toast. You were allowed more if you asked for it though. I was surprised and even more impressed when they left me with a packed breakfast on the morning I flew out when I had to leave the hotel by 6am. It included a sandwich, an apple, a really nice chocolate brownie and 2 drinks.

For lunch there's usually 2-3 choices each of hot and cold dishes and would cost anything between £6 to £12. It was quite a casual affair as you would find in a small English cafe. The sandwiches were all homemade, evident from the fact that they were all wrapped in cling film. For me the presentation was slightly unappetizing. If you were going on a day trip, you could also pre-order a packed lunch for £12.50. It was a very steep price tag so I never found out what amazing food I'd missed out on. On the plus side the staff was very happy to store the food I'd bought from the supermarket in their fridge.

Pre-booking is required for dinner, which I never did given I wasn't sure who I would be eating with at what time.

I was particularly impressed by their cakes though. Almost every day they would have freshly baked cakes which looked and tasted fantastic. I didn't rave about their breakfast or lunches, but I did look forward to having tea and cake in the afternoon every day I was in Stanley.

All in all, my stays at the Waterfront were OK. Whilst the website definitely looks a lot better than the real thing, and the rooms could really benefit from some maintenance, the staff was all friendly and helpful. The hotel does also have nice decor and good atmosphere, especially the quaint lounge and the bright conservatory overseeing Stanley bay. 



The Malvina House Hotel by Simon Smith - overall 8/10
From the outside you could be forgiven for mistaking the Malvina House Hotel for a large private dwelling, but looks are deceiving. Inside is a spacious, modern and well presented establishment. The prices were reasonable, with prices ranging from £108 for a standard room (single occupancy) to £170 for an executive room (double occupancy). I went with the former, although I was tempted by the executive rooms, which I believe are located in the new extension to the hotel.

I stayed at the hotel twice, each time in a different room along the same corridor. The first was a twin room, with one bed serving as somewhere to lay out my luggage. The second was a double, which was more like a king in regards to bed size. Both rooms were nice enough - clean, light and roomy. They were also quiet, with no noise problems at all that I can recall. There was no air conditioning, but there was a large window that opened as far as anyone would want and a full length radiator below. The climate of the Falklands is regulated quite strongly by the surrounding ocean, and with little precipitation at all (except the freak weather we brought with us on our return from Antarctica) the air temperature stays within a chilly-mild range - air conditioning is therefore of little use 99% of the time.

The choice of television was very limited, with a couple of British Forces channels, a couple more Spanish-speaking channels and the local Falklands channel. Don't rely on television for entertainment. There is a full phone system installed, with external calls being added to the bill.

Internet access at the Malvina House Hotel was supposedly the best in the islands. For my first stay, the hotel had the Cable & Wireless wifi system which is used throughout the islands. At £5 for 50 mins, £10 for 100 mins it was certainly not cheap compared the options normally available in UK hotels. However, to my pleasant surprise this had changed in the month that we were at sea, and on our return I was able to purchase in longer blocks for a much more reasonable price. Only residents were able to purchase the longer times, however visitors could purchase shorter time periods. This wifi system was only available within the Malvina. Everywhere else still used the C&W system at the time of our second visit. Access speeds seemed quite reasonable given the method of connection to the rest of the world - a massive satellite dish at the C&W building that was visible at a distance from both my rooms.

The hotel serves as the only 'real' restaurant in the entirety of the Falkland Islands, although there are a few small fast-food type eateries around, as well as some pubs where it seems hit-or-miss as to whether they are serving food. The nourishment on offer at the Malvina was delicious, and very well presented. Cooked breakfast had presentation placed before portion size, but it was still a welcome meal. Prices aren't unreasonable, especially given the scarcity of vegetables on the islands, with a lot of produce having to be imported from Chile. Advance booking of a table is highly recommended, particularly for dinner.

There was a small selection of draughts on offer at the bar, but most drinks were served from bottles. If you like cider, you might be disappointed wherever you go on the islands, including the Malvina - only small bottles of Woodpecker were available when we were there.

The reception and housekeeping staff that I met was friendly and helpful. Some of the staff were a little less enthusiastic, but remained professional.

There was also a lack of a lift in my part of the hotel - a bit of a pain if you have heavy luggage or mobility issues.

Overall my experience at the Malvina House Hotel was very pleasant, and I'd love to stay there again if the opportunity should ever arise. 


The Malvina House Restaurant by Will Ng - overall 4/10 
My only experience of the Malvina was having dinner there twice. It has the most expensive restaurant in Stanley, although I'm not sure if it was the best. Sure, ingredients were fresh and dishes well-presented, but for the price tag I think the overall experience could be a lot better.

For a start the restaurant staff all looked grumpy and robotic. It was as if the "I never want to smile" switch was permanently turned on. It wasn't just the waiters or bar staff; the restaurant manager was equally expressionless and blank, even when I tried to converse or to ask for his opinion on a dish. It really annoyed me actually; I would have expected far better service in this allegedly the best establishment in Stanley. Call me a snob if you like but I did pay a premium for the dinner no?

The quality of the food was hit and miss (my taste buds possibly partly tainted by the service). The fried squid and the black toothfish were both excellent, but the other fish dish I had on the second visit was disappointing and had a bitterness. The chocolate taster dessert was good though.

I would have loved to score Malvina higher, but I had high expectations and the staff really failed to deliver. They should invest in more training and development, and perhaps a beginners' course on how to smile.



Various by James Dong
With only 3,000 or so individuals, the Falkland Islands is one expansive small town, albeit with a diversity of landscapes and wildlife to rival that of the most impressive eco-destinations.  Staying in any of the resident owned B&Bs in Stanley or the outlying islands and this fact becomes very obvious.  More importantly, when you step through the veranda, what you realize is that these aren't business owners so much as they are Falklanders.  They have their own incredibly rich history building a life and a family in one of the world's most remote destinations.  And where you're staying can't be considered lodging so much as it must be considered a portal into that history.

Our first stop was the Bennett House.  Cheerfully painted in soft lilac and rich burgundy, the interior reminded me of a dollhouse.  Celia, the proprietor, reminded me strangely of Professor McGonagall (yes from Harry Potter).  They both had the demeanour of someone wise and stern that belies a genuine kind-heartedness.  As I discovered from visiting the Waitrose store, Celia has her own shelves of baked goods stashed among the breads and cookies of who knows what other local chefs!  During the day, the house warmed with spicy and sweet as her oven churned out trays of savoury buns and sugary pastries.  The "smoko" was never so good once I left! (Well... maybe once.)

The next, was the self-catering lodge at the Neck on Saunders Island.  To get there, we jostled our way in an old 4x4 down the uneven slopes while David cheerfully explained the local geography.  He and his family had been on the island for generations.  And, as I later discovered, not only were they successful farmers, but also dutiful naturalists as well.  Suzanne Saunders contributes regularly to ornithological surveys and wildlife publications, David is an incredible photographer, and their daughter earnestly wants to carry on the family tradition.  The self-catering lodge was just furnished enough--after all, in such a beautiful environment, a little shelter from the cold was all we needed.  And I have to conclude by saying that, despite the slurry of animal dung that is now irreparably lodged into my boots, this might be my first choice for a future honeymoon destination!

All too soon we found ourselves on Carcass Island, where, seated at the dining table with a grand view of the few trees painstakingly nurtured from the dry soils of the Falklands and dotted with the ever-present striated caracara, and served an endless stream of delicate pastries and meats, I felt like an anachronism.  Did I slip into dream of the antebellum South?  Not that I would dare pose such a question to Rob and Lorraine, whose hospitality and company withered any such curiosity.  Here we passed the night when the Falklanders uttered in great unison their desire to remain a British overseas territory.  Over breaks in the news, Rob eagerly outlined the history.  He'd lived through some crucial events and indeed the passion and fire were clearly far from gone.

The third island we visited was the most touristic--Sea Lion Island.  Billing itself as the most southerly eco-lodge in the world, Sea Lion Lodge really did astound me.  By far the best out-fitted place we stayed, the place deserves its reputation.  And because of its small size and rustic location, it's still seems less hotel than large boarding house, with an air of familiarity and sociality that pushes all the residents into casual conversation late into the evening. Jenny and her staff are clearly proud of the sheer natural beauty that dominates the island, as it is now fully conservation space and free from animal husbandry.  With the weather finally clearing on the two days here, this was the most beautiful Falklands experience.

Finally, we spent a quick day in Weddell Island.  The lodge that Mike has established is refreshingly new and modern.  With a greenhouse entryway, and a clean white interior accented with leather and wood, I could have pulled it from the pages of an upscale contemporary living magazine!  At least we got to learn that Mike is also a fantastic cook (despite the official cook being on vacation during our stay).  Another strong contender for a romantic getaway!

Upon return to Stanley, we spent one final night in what might be considered the only true "hotel" on the Falklands. The Malvina House Hotel, newly renovated just in 2012 to include an expansive restaurant, one recommended by pretty much every resident as the "it" place to dine, might be the centrepiece of the Falklands' hospitality industry.  Yet personally, I would prefer otherwise.  The B&Bs resonate with a Falklander-ishness that is difficult for any hotel to match.  And this is the reason that I could see myself eagerly returning.  I look forward then to catching up with David & Suzanne about the state of the new king penguin colony on Saunders Island.  I look forward to talking with Rob about how the referendum has shifted both how the Falklanders perception of how the world perceives them has changed.  I want to see Sea Lion in a proper sunset, and marvel at the wealth of biodiversity Jenny's conservation efforts have helped create.  And I want to share more stories than we could this time around with Mike.  Any visit is inextricably tied with these people and their stories.  Beyond the natural beauty and untamed wildlife, they are what make a vacation to the Falklands a unique and magical experience.



Shorty's Motel by Will Ng - overall 7/10
This motel has a diner (Shorty's Diner) attached to it, which was a very good and decently priced greasy spoon where a lot of the locals hang out. Plenty of choices on the menu but most items are either deep fried or grilled. Service is excellent - all the staff were very polite, friendly and helpful (perhaps they could go and show the Malvina staff how to smile?)

I did notice the massive portions of desserts on display but I never had enough room to stomach one. I would also highly recommend the fresh fruit smoothies - they were tasty and probably the only healthy items on the menu there.