Stanley, Falkland Islands
The charming small town of Stanley awaited us today. We pulled up anchor early in the morning and just after the sun rose slowly started heading in to the inner harbor where the town lies. The colorful roofs—such a bright splash of color after a long day on the grey foggy sea yesterday—struck us powerfully on approaching the town. It seemed as if the roof of each house had been painted a different color, which made for a wonderful effect.
Stanley is the capital and the only true city in the Falkland Islands. It is located on the east side of the isle of East Falkland on a north-facing slope and is one of the wettest parts of the islands. The town is known for its museum, government house built in 1845, several war memorials as well as several shipwrecks in its harbor. On this, our first day back in “civilization” we were fortunate to have plenty of time to enjoy this charming and very British town. We were once again blessed by the weather gods and although there were strong winds in the afternoon, the day stayed sunny and mostly clear.
In the morning a tour of town was offered that took in the highlights and provided a bit of flavor with some colorful local guides and their stories of life in this small town and tiny country. In the afternoon the majority chose a tour that went out to Gypsy Cove—a lovely wildlife area on the coast where Magellanic penguins could be seen as well as a plethora of other birds. A smaller minority chose to take the Long Island farm tour instead and drove out a long ways through the countryside to a small and charming farm to see demonstrations of sheep shearing, sheep herding by dogs, horse riding, and peat cutting. A respite from the windy conditions that threatened to blow us over was had inside the small farmhouse where a lovely tea and cakes spread was enjoyed by all. We admired the hardiness of the friendly souls who lived and worked in this farm, the tough conditions they must endure, and their remarkable self-sufficiency.
