Speaking with locals and ship’s crew, apparently, we visited the Falklands in the best weather possible, better than some of them had ever seen. Sun in the Falklands is a rarity.
Our goals for the Falklands visit were two-fold. I was eager to find some locals to hear how they liked living on the Islands, and their perspective on the invasion in 1982 by Argentina, and the subsequent liberation by Margret Thatcher’s British Forces. Deborah was there to see the Penguins.
The Falkland’s or Malvinas were first discovered by the Dutch in the 1500s but have been settled periodically by the French, British, Spanish, and Argentineans throughout history. In 1982 the contentious issue of ownership came to a head when Argentina invaded the islands. Seventy-four days later the British Liberation navel force retook possession of the islands.
Argentina and Great Britain are still at odds today. Argentina still includes the Islands on their territorial maps. There are no direct flights to the Islands from Argentina and Argentina reluctantly allows only two flights to cross Argentine air space from Chile each week. The people of the Falklands voted 99.8% to remain a British protectorate in a recent plebiscite. There are 1500 UK troops permanently stationed on the Islands.
Unemployment on the Falklands is near zero. Tourism, sheep-wool farming, and fishing keep the 3000 locals thriving. Young people can access free flights and university tuition at UK schools upon graduation. Many return to make their homes on the Islands.
Since observing Penguins was the first priority we signed up for one of the ship’s official tours to see the Rock Hopper Penguins on Lisa Murrell’s farm. We had a smooth tender ride into the inner harbour and our shuttle bus met us at the dock. We were driven out of town a few miles (remember we are in the UK) to Lisa’s farm. We were reloaded into 4X4’s for the half hour journey to see the penguins. There was no road. Four vehicles set out across the peat bogs and sheep pastures for a bone-jarring 40-minute ride to the ocean edge and the Rock Hopper Penguins. There are various penguin varieties on the Island but these little Hoppers must be the cutest. They may be slick acrobats in the water but these little guys waddle along until met with an obstacle whereupon they two-foot jump to clear the obstacle.
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Caravan Across the Sheep Pastures
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70 Miles of Fences on Lisa's "Small" Farm
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The Rockhopper!
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This Pair Was Taking Care of Two Eggs
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Deborah's Goal Accomplished!
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The Penguins’ mate for life and we were fortunate to see many of the mating pairs’ eggs that they take turns tending. Each partner makes the slow journey to the see twice a day to feed on krill before climbing the cliffs to rejoin their partner.
On the journey out to the cliffs, Bruce was our 4X4 driver. Bruce has spent all his 78 years on the Island. When he described locations on the island he referred to so-and-so’s farm or house. I asked him why he chose to live there (diplomatically of course but essentially, why would you choose to live on this treeless, windswept, cold, island in the middle of nowhere). Bruce looked at me as if to say “what a stupid question” but kindly replied, “because its home”. I asked him about his memories of the invasion. He said that it caught everyone by surprise. They went to bed one night and the next morning there was an Argentinean flag flying over the town. After the shock wore off he said he felt personally humiliated. He was confined to his farm and the townies to the recreation hall. He didn’t suppress the fact he is still bitter. I asked him about local casualties and he said he had a friend that was killed. A British shell killed her. BBC Radio had instructed folks to shelter in dugouts until the invasion bombardment had stopped. She left the dugout when the shelling stopped but there was a single late coming shell that exploded over her roof and killed her with shrapnel. There were over 250 British soldiers and nearly 650 Argentineans killed in the conflict.
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The Telegram Received by the Town's Leaders from the UK in typical British fashion: "We have apparently reliable evidence that an Argentine task force could be assembling off Stanley at dawn tomorrow. You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly."
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On the return trip, I had a chance to quiz Lisa, owner of the farm. Lisa is sixth generation Falklander. Her paternal lineage extends back to the 1840s when her ancestor came here when Britain was trying to populate the island. Her other ancestor was a cabin boy who was washed ashore in a shipwreck. Lisa calls herself a pioneer of small farming. Her sheep spread only numbers 10,000 acres. Her parents bought the small farm when the government subdivided all the 100,000-acre farms in 1980. Poor wool prices and the advent of tourism led her to the penguin tourism business she enjoys today. The penguins had always been there but were taken for granted.
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Lisa - Sixth Generation on the Falklands - Her 8 grandchildren will represent the 8th.
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Lisa remembers the war as a 14-year-old girl. She just remembers being shocked and being isolated on the farm. She remembers being joyful when they heard about the liberation task force leaving Britain. Her farm is still littered by some of the 30,000 land mines left by the Argentines. Today contract workers from Zimbabwe still come every summer season to find and deactivate the mines. Some areas are strictly off-limits to humans but the sheep and penguins are able to walk freely through the minefields.
The Falklands feel very British. There is Falkland Pound currency pegged at the UK pound. We dropped into the local pub and bought a pint. Beer costs about $11 Canadian a bottle so it is a very expensive place on the Keys Economic Indicator Scale.
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Bought a Pint at the Globe Tavern
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At the end of the day, we tendered back to the ship just before a cold fog bank rolled in from the sea and obscured our vision of the retreating Island as we set forth to Montevideo, Uruguay. (At the exact time both Bruce & Lisa predicted).
So... no Penguin burgers?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great adventure.