The Falklands

Day 11

Did I tell you; the shipment of my Merrell winter gear for Antarctica has still not arrived because of customs in Chile!

As I left for Antarctica on Dec 8, one of the ship's staff members generously loaned me two of her warm tops, without which I probably would have been chilly on every landing.

I had packed an extra pair of pants and socks from Toronto just in case (the project manager in me had to have a contingency plan in case of shipment delays!)

We arrived in the Falkland Islands on Dec 17, and I no longer needed the number of layers that kept me warm further South. Phew! As the ship anchored just off the coast of Saunders Island, I began to see green hills and sheep to my right, and a tropical beach to the left. It felt like I had been transported from fantasy in Antarctica to reality.

But, it was a different kind of beauty and worth appreciating for its own uniqueness. This is what I experienced....

 

Walking up the island, right in front of me were different types of penguins, including some King penguins with their large, furry, independent chicks almost half my height!

Yes, I am small, but they were huge! And, their walk was much heavier than the adorable Adelie penguins.

The King parents also walked with a dignified grace.

Right by them was a fence and some Gentoo penguins with chicks the size of my palm.

Although the fence seemed very out of place, I assumed it was to separate humans from the colonies during breeding season, and I hoped the penguins would not hurt themselves on it.

In fact, it looked like they knew how to walk around the fenced. Good news.


I spent a few precious minutes with the King chicks, affectionately nicknamed Chubacca by one of our fellow passengers, after a Star Wars character.

Then I made my way up a grassy hill. On the way, I came face to face with an intact sei whale skeleton. I learned that it was moved from the shore, where the whale had originally beached!



It was incredible being so close to an actual whale skeleton in nature.

I continued further up the hill and crossed a fence to reach a rockhopper penguin colony. As I
wobbled on the hill, I lifted one leg over the fence and then the other leg.

I soon found myself right next to a telescope that was focused on two Macaroni penguins sitting amongst a large gathering of rockhoppers.

Macaronis it seems, have been named after British gentlemen who visited Italy many years ago and returned with elaborate hairdos. The Macaronis are tranquil, and beautiful with their yellow headdress that distinguish them from the other penguins.

Surrounding the Macaronis are the more active and slightly aggressive rockhoppers!

I had been waiting throughout my trip to meet these creatures, and now they seemed so much smaller than what I imagined, and very different from what I pictured in my mind's eye.

The rockhoppers seemed to be more decisive than the Adelies we saw in Antarctica. They seemed determined as they arched their backs and stared ahead with their red eyes; their head flanked by yellow feathers on either side, like eccentric eyebrows.



We continued to watch them push their feet to gain momentum for their leap on to the next rock up the hill, down the hill, and on the sandy beach as they entered the ocean.

Each type of penguin so far seemed to have a unique personality.

I will certainly not be sharing which one is my current favourite, as that goes against the intent of my posts - to present to you the beauty of nature and travel. But, if you read carefully, you may notice a clear bias. Lol.

As I continued walking past the colony, I found myself at the top of the hill I had been climbing. I crossed a tiny stream running the length of the hill, cutting the path of a few rockhoppers.

Sorry guys!

My walk took me to a small black-browed Albatross colony with chicks bigger than those of the Gentoo penguins,  but smaller than the Kings' chicks. Since we were to see more chicks at the next island, I decided to soak in the vista in front of me instead.

I looked to the left, and down the hill far into the distance but close to the coast, we suddenly saw black and white commerson's dolphins!

They seemed to be swimming against the waves, and then surfing the wave back towards the coast, multiples times.

Ah, such whimsy!

I decided that I would begin to prepare to leave the island, as it could take me some time to walk back down the line as I passed by each penguin colony.

I also had no idea whether I would need time to descend down the hill, just in case it was a steep decline that required my care.

Well, let it be known - It was not that steep, it was a grassy hill which was very easy for me to walk up or down, and I was back at the zodiacs too early.

Fear had struck again - pshh!

But, I passed all the penguins on my way back, including the Magallanes penguins, which were living in perfect harmony with all the other penguins on the island.


And, once I reached the zodiacs, I sat by the coast to soak in the last few moments on the second last island of my 12-day journey.

Sitting there, I saw a number of large scavenger birds - the caracara - sitting on a land rover. I wondered why.



But I have always known that birds and animals have an instinct that we may not have.

I did see them previously taking turns to look into a burrowed hole for their hunt, and possibly eating a dead penguin chick....

Each island has its own essence and I am lucky to have seen is diverse wildlife and their habits.

I remembered Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution.

The strongest survive here in nature. Humans however have been successful in cheating this truth in some ways, by building tools and supports.

Fair or not, we are lucky; and it may be causing a significant impact on the wildlife on our planet....

That afternoon I experienced the perfect end to my trip, at West Point.



I left my zodiac and set foot on a wooden dock. Parallel to it were tiny chicks of two geese. It seemed so odd after what I had experienced so far. What a strange creature!

I walked up and down some hills for about 30 minutes, towards a large rockhopper colony and an Albatross colony.

I removed my multiple layers of clothes as I walked, and enjoyed my body straining itself as I hiked. I had been eating and sleeping, and just walking for too long and it was time for my body to exercise!

I reached the colony and as I descended through the tall grass, equal to my height, I came across rockhoppers cutting my grassy path. I had to be extra careful not to hurt them, so I walked slower as I approached the colony.


I saw tiny chicks, and one rockhopper that posed for more than 10 minutes with its wings spread out; it was standing in an Albatross nest.

I still wonder if that was to cool itself on the hot summer day in the Falklands.

The passengers and I also wondered if, in this type of mixed rockhopper-Albatross colony, the chicks would be confused about whether they were growing up to be rockhoppers or Albatrosses....

What do you think?

I saw some of us had crossed to the other side of this hill, so with much difficulty and  after getting lost amongst the grass a number of times, I made my way to that side. It didn't look very exciting, but I did not want to live with the regret of not visiting that side.


I sat down and began to watch the Albatrosses fly into and out of the colony.




As I lay down with my back on the ground and flatten my legs, I experienced what may be one of the best experiences I will ever encounter.... Although I could not capture the moment, I hope seeing this video will help you in some ways to understand what I was lucky to experience.

The Albatrosses were now flying close enough to me, that their bodies flew right above my own body. I could hear the strength of their wings as the wind whooshed above me. Some were only an arm's length away from me as they flew past to leave the hill.

The sun was shining right into my eyes, and I was in heaven.



When I walked back, a song played in my head - The hills are alive with the sound of music.

We ended the day with a fantastic feast of tea and biscuits, at the home of the residents who took care of the farm on the island. Their book of pictures told awe-inspiring stories, including of boats covered in snow with one of them on board, or a photo of one of them solo on a large mountain of snow.

The people you meet when you travel are just as much a part of our story, as our story about nature and about ourselves....

It was an incredible journey to the last continent, and a smooth transition through the Falkland Islands back to reality. I will never forget it.

As I left the zodiac that day, and embarked the ship one last time, I heard the sound of my voice saying that "this was the bestest day ever!".