Falkland Islands to Punta Arenas, Penguin Colonie
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2011
1
33
48
Trip End
Jan 09, 2012
Where I stayed
Silver Sea Whisper
Port Stanley, East Falkland, Falkland Islands
Monday, December 12, 2011
Day 9: at sea
We are on our way to the Falkland Islands. It is wet and cold outside.
The weather is yukky so we started the day with a leisurely breakfast and went on to do nothing till noon. Then had a leisurely lunch. Did 2 loads of laundry (how exiting). Watched a movie and, in order not to loose the rhythm, had dinner.
What a hard day……….
Dec 10
Stanley is the capital of East Falkland (There are 2 Islands, East and West Falkland)
We were ready to go ashore at 9 am when then the captain decided that it was too stormy to disembark onto a tender so he pulled up the anchor and we left the Falklands without having set foot on land.
Since we already had been there on our way to Antarctica 5 years ago, we were not too disappointed.
Once again had a had a real lazy day.
In the late afternoon, by 6 degrees Celsius, in a howling wind and 15 foot waves, we got the bright idea to take a dip in the outdoor Jacuzzi. We sat in there for over an hour. The idea of getting out of the hot water was not very exiting especially that Gylls' bathrobe and flip flops had taken off like a jet plane and had landed in the swimming pool. We sure had a good laugh.
Getting out was an ordeal. Jerry, who was so smart as to tie her bathrobe to the rail (German ingenuity), saved the day. She went to look for a towel for me and gracefully fished out the bathrobe and the slippers from the pool. The laughter continued for a long while as, on our way to our cabin, we had to share the elevator and the hallways with people who were all dressed up in tuxedo’s and long dresses for the Gala evening....
Dec 11:
at sea
It continues to be gray with strong winds. We are passing through the Magellan straits, in front of the place were we took the ferry while on the rallye.
Not much to talk about. Eat, sleep and be merry. By now we have met many of our fellows passengers so we chit-chat and of course had high tea.
Dec 12:
Punta Arenas
"Today layer clothes and apply suntan lotion" recommended the daily journal on board, “the ozone layer is very thin”.
Punta Arenas is a frontier city, the “Gateway to Antarktika” as they call it here, and the “most southern city in the World (Ushuaia being “the southernmost town in the world” to them!)
I think they have an ongoing battle on that issue….
Punta Arenas is full of history of the glorious "Golden Age" , when it was the world's most famous harbor to export wool around the globe. Those days, two families were dominating the city - Jose Menendez and Mauricio Braun.
The city seems sophisticated compared to other places we have seen in Chile. Old lavish buildings, some well kept by the city and now used as musea, some abandoned.
We rented a van with 4 fellow passengers and drove 1 hour NW to the penguin colony Seno Otway with 4000 breeding pairs.
We did a 1 and a half kilometers of a beautiful walk around the fields and the beaches to look at these funny characters going about their daily lives. There are many young, as breeding time was in November.
We saw lots of beautiful flowers, birds and a variety of land animals like Nandu’s, Llamas, Guanaco’s, Andeans condors and colorful little birds.
Returning to the city we strolled through the center plaza and walked the streets of town. Definitely an interesting place.
Comments
Hoi Irmgard en Gylls.
Ik volg nog steeds,en ik vind het leuk om er foto,s bij te zien.
Dus blijf nog maar even doorgaan. xx Carla
trés jolie cette végétation en bord de mer ,sympa la vidéo toujours de belles photos, il a l'air de faire plus froid bisous
The eye of Jerry is always the one who sees what we have not noticed. Good observations on Punta Arenas, our last stop in the South.
Your boat seems to "fly" very fast !
Kiss to both of you
thanks to all for your comments ! We always enjoy reading them !!
Kisses from both of us.
G & J