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the island, Suzan Pole-Evans, at a place appropriately named “The Neck.”
It’s a broad stretch of beach between two steep peaks home to
1,500 gentoo penguins and two robust rockhopper penguin colonies.
Several black-browed albatross colonies occupy the steep cliffs
overlooking the ocean.
Rockhoppers are hardy birds with wild hairdos but are without
knees. They literally hop up and down steep cliffs, leaving their colonies
of fuzzy chicks for the crashing surf several times a day. At one point,
the siren call of the beckoning water overcame caution and I jumped
into the frigid ocean and bodysurfed a couple of waves with several
rockhoppers before the cold water got the better of me.
King of the Penguins
The road to Volunteer Point on East Falkland was a bouncy one,
wrought with peat bogs and rutted dirt tracks. When I finally arrived at
the point, I found 1,200 nesting pairs of king penguins tending to their
chicks, frolicking in the surf and parading along the beach. They’re not
as active as the other penguins, but their colors stand out like no other.
They stand nearly three feet tall, and the males perform most of the
incubation of a single egg, which never touches the ground. It rests on
top of their feet, and when the female returns, there is a careful transfer of
the egg: tenderness in an unforgiving landscape.
I f You Go
To learn more about the Falkland Islands go to www.tourism.
org.fk/pages/stanley. One of the best tour operators is Falkland
Islands Holidays, www.falklandislandsholidays.com, e-mail: info@
falklandislandsholidays.com. No visas are required for the Falklands.
Flights from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile, then continuing to Stanley
are around $1,500.00 round-trip on Lan Chile. British-style Bed &
Breakfasts are aplenty in Stanley. Try the Malvina House Hotel. It’s rated
as one of the best in Stanley, www.malvinahousehotel.com.
After thawing out, I bundled up and headed down to the gentoo
penguin colonies. I slowly approached one of the colonies then lied
down just outside the perimeter. The chicks were the most curious.
Getting down at their level made them more comfortable and they
waddled within a foot of me. One chick came up to me, reached down
and gently grabbed my left index finger with its beak. Then as if a bell
were rung and recess was over, many of the adult gentoos paraded off
toward the unforgiving sea, zigzagging their way into the cobalt blue
Falkland Islands Current.
The Far South
From Saunders I flew one hour south to the Falkland’s most
southerly outpost: Sea Lion Island. The flat, four-mile-long, one-mile-
wide islet possesses a rich diversity of wildlife. There’s a small lodge on
the island, and from there I explored its rocky cliffs, craggy coastline and
deserted beaches.
At 18 feet long and weighing an average of 5,000 pounds, the
southern elephant seal is the world’s largest pinniped. Their fights over
females and territory can be colossal. These massive beach masters rear
back seven-feet-tall against their opponents and hack each other on their
thick necks. Some of this action takes place just 20 feet away from me.
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