December 27, 2013

 

Early this morning we anchored off shore at the Falkland Islands. The population of the islands is approximately 2500 people, so with the arrival of the Zandaam, the population doubled.

 

After a quick breakfast we boarded the tender to sail to Port Stanley. Upon arrival we jumped into a mini-van that took us part of the way to the Bluff Cove rookery. To reach the rookery we then travelled on a 4 x 4 Range Rover across country. It was rather daunting to strike off across the fields where there were no roads, but we arrived safely thanks to the intrepid skills of our driver Christine.

 

To our great delight there were penguins galore. We were able to get quite close to the birds and saw adults and chicks. The most common variety of penguin was the Gentoo. There were also a few King penguins in the colony.

After visiting the rookery, we explored Port Stanley for a bit and then took a tender back to the ship. By the time Judy and I got back to the ship the weather had turned with the wind picking up quite a bit. We had a challenge climbing up to the deck with the wind whipping us about. Just after we got on board, the transfer of passengers via the tenders was suspended for a while until the weather improved.  

 

So, the ship left the Falklands about 90 minutes later than originally expected. We are now sailing south in a heavy sea. The captain announced that we would be facing gale force winds during the next few hours. Our walk to the dining room was a bit challenging as we coped with the rolling seas. But our challenges were minuscule in comparison to the servers who battled the rolling while carrying trays of meals.

 

On to Antarctica!