Another World (part 6)

Hopping from island to island in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands

When life on land had become a distant memory and all we could think of was getting off the ship, we saw land! Sighting land while at sea is like seeing an oasis in the desert! Being able to set foot on the Falkland Islands (aka Islas Malvinas) after four days at sea was a glorious moment!

We simply wandered for hours around Stanley, a cute little town (the only town!), which, tiny as it is, felt like getting back to civilization after the wilderness of Antarctica. We marvelled at the English gardens, double-decker buses and red phone booths. 

Even though we were definitely not starving on the ship, having fish and chips at a local pub was the ultimate joy! 

The presence of the Magellanic Penguins that we met among the red diddle-dee and the green moss and tussock grass at Gypsy Cove was the only proof that we were not in Great Britain… 

The Falkland/Malvinas Islands are made up of 740 Islands and for the next two days we were going to hop from island to island...

At Carcass Island the wind was strong and it started raining at the end of the hike but the welcome of the blue-eyed and red-eyed cormorants cheered us up. 

We came across lots of Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo Penguins and the shapes of the rocks and the sandy beaches were stunning. 

During our hike at Saunders Island we met thousands of Gentoo Penguins hanging around, a bunch of King Penguins with their chicks hiding under their feet, some Magellanic Penguins standing in front of the burrows they had dug, hundreds of Black-Browed Albatrosses perched on their nests and, for the first time, our sixth species of penguins - the Southern Rockhopper Penguins with their red eyes and bright yellow eyebrows. 

For those who have watched the movie “Happy Feet”, please meet Lovelace! 

We even came across some whale bones in what looked like alien surroundings! 

Just before dinner one of the usual Antarctica miracles happened - after a stunning sunset, we saw dozens of commerson's dolphins racing with our ship! It was pure magic! 

Our last day in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and the last day of our 23-day trip to Antarctica finally arrived… It was a glorious sunny day at West Point Island.

We hiked to a Black-Browed Albatross colony where we could get close to the chicks practising their flying skills and the parents feeding their youngsters with the prey caught from the sea. 

The afternoon tea with fresh scones and cakes homemade by the caretakers of the island in what looked like a legit English cottage was a real treat! 

Another (last) miracle happened at the end of this day. A pod of Sei Whales, the third largest whales in the Southern Ocean, came to visit! We could see spouts everywhere around the ship and stayed on the deck for hours enjoying these last moments of an epic trip, a trip of a lifetime... 

The sunset of the day was a beautiful farewell we admired with mixed emotions of sadness and bewilderment...

All we could think of was when and how to come back to the overwhelming beauty and exquisite perfection of this other world on our small planet…