SA Cruise /Falkland Penguin Tours

[deec]

Those of you  who are taking the South American Chilean Fjords in late 2021/22  and are beginning to think about excursions,  many past passengers on this board have given great reviews of Patrick Watt's tours to see the Penguins while we are in the Falklands.  He is now booking again and wrote me that his drivers/guides will be vaccinated.  https://adventurefalklands.com/ 

He offers 2 different tours and answered my emails promptly.  He does not require a deposit.

I am hoping that Viking will mandate that all passengers/crew be vaccinated but I also hope that we will be allowed to do touring on our own.

 

If there are other tours for this cruise that you have found PLEASE share the information!

[Jim Avery]

Hi Dee,

We went on one of the Viking extra tours to Bluff Cove.  November of '19.  It was great.  Started at the dock with getting in vans so small group.  The vans drove to a parking area up a dirt road in a field.  We had commentary on the Falklands War from a vet.  We transferred to Land rovers in groups of 3 or 4 depending on the vehicle.  Then the fun starts.  Off road mostly to Bluff Cove.  A beautiful little cove right off the beach with several different areas of roosting penguins.  Two different types and we got to walk right among them.  Fantastic (except the smell).  There is a little cottage with a tea and snacks bar and a small store with local work.  We have a nice little pen and ink of the penguins now framed in our bedroom.   Reminds us of the lovely penguins each evening.  Highly  recommended and hope it is available.

[The Other Tom]

We sailed with Norwegian a couple of years ago and went with Patrick Watts (on our own, not through the ship) and were very pleased.  The ship used Estancia tours which arrived at Volunteer Point after we did, so less time for them to see the penguins.  Of course the penguins were great but the best part was talking to our driver who had lived through the Falklands war and gave us a lot of details, along with his experiences living on a sheep farm.  

There was a question if the ship was going to dock because of the weather and I texted Patrick from the ship.  He was quick to reply to my questions, even just an hour or so before docking.  I would highly recommend his tour.  And yes, you pay with cash, at Volunteer point.  That way, if the tour doesn't go due to weather or whatever, you're not out any money.  Just be sure you have enough cash to pay.  I don't remember exactly but I think we used US dollars.

Edited March 17, 2021 by The Other Tom

[deec]

I really hope we get to do this trip....we have put together 4 cruises for a number days onboard the Jupiter!!!

[TayanaLorna]

We completed this same Round Cape Horn trip in February, 2020.  Fantastic.  We went from Santiago to Buenos Aires direction.  I have been working on a photo journal of our trip and have completed all days between Santiago and Ushuaia to rounding the Horn.  One would think that it would be finished by now with all the time from Covid isolation but its not.  I now have some incentive with others hopeful of completing the trip again.  There are 14 posts so far and they can be found at tomko2travel.blogspot.com.  Its my first time doing this kind of thing so sorry if i get too long winded.  Post a Comment if you read it.

 

As far as Patrick Watts Volunteer Point, the Jupiter anchored off Stanley but our tender was the first and only one that dropped off passengers.  Patrick's caravan of jeeps departed when he saw the Viking trip depart.  We got about a half hour out when our lead jeep received a radio call that Viking was recalling all passengers back to the ship due to increasing winds.  Our drivers were given the go ahead to do a brief sightseeing tour around town so we learned a lot about life in the Falklands including the perspective of our female driver who was 17 at the time of the war.  Patrick did not charge us for the tour but we all gave our driver a hefty tip for her tour.  Acceptable payment was US dollars or British pounds.  As far as anyone worrying they would miss the ship if not on a Viking tour, do not.  Patrick had both communication with Viking as well as his drivers.

 

As far as Viking cancelling the day, many of us felt it was the poor docking ability of the second tender driver that caused subsequent excursions to be cancelled.  The tender that picked us up had no issue docking nor was it dangerous getting back on ship.  Our sail away was quiet and calm.  However later in the day we had 40 plus mph winds and 20 foot seas.  Not bad for the ship but would have been a problem getting people on and off the tenders.

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Hi Dee,

We went on one of the Viking extra tours to Bluff Cove.  November of '19.  It was great.  Started at the dock with getting in vans so small group.  The vans drove to a parking area up a dirt road in a field.  We had commentary on the Falklands War from a vet.  We transferred to Land rovers in groups of 3 or 4 depending on the vehicle.  Then the fun starts.  Off road mostly to Bluff Cove.  A beautiful little cove right off the beach with several different areas of roosting penguins.  Two different types and we got to walk right among them.  Fantastic (except the smell).  There is a little cottage with a tea and snacks bar and a small store with local work.  We have a nice little pen and ink of the penguins now framed in our bedroom.   Reminds us of the lovely penguins each evening.  Highly  recommended and hope it is available.

We did this same excursion in 2010 with NCL. One of only two paid ships’ excursions we have ever done. We were the last ship of the season and we were in the last excursion so in addition to being the final run in the driver’s contest to see who had to have assistance out of the bogs the fewest times they also were prepping for an end of season BBQ. So in addition to the tea and cake, we got to have some of their bbq’d fish, lamb, and cormorants. Yummy!

 

Our driver was tied with one other for no bogging down but we heard after dropping us on the way back to the party that he got stuck so he didn’t win the prize 😢

[deec]

not sure I want to try cormorants...probably taste like chicken!

 

thanks everyone for your comments!

TayananaLorna,   my husband has NOT done our WC photo book ....I think the numbers of outstanding photos has him flummoxed about how  tackle the projects.

[Jazmyn49]

We were delighted with Carrot's Tours out of Stanley.  He had access to some private lands with more penguins and a smoother track for his vehicle, plus we didn't have to drive all the way to Volunteer Point.  His email is online if you Google Carrot's Tours Falkland Islands.  Highly recommended at great prices.

[Peregrina651]

In 2009, we were lucky enough to be in Patrick's jeep for the trip out to Volunteer Point.  At the time that Argentina invaded the Falklands, Patrick ran the radio station.  His stories from that period are fascinating.  Alas, there are only 4 seats in the jeep. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

In 2009, we were lucky enough to be in Patrick's jeep for the trip out to Volunteer Point.  At the time that Argentina invaded the Falklands, Patrick ran the radio station.  His stories from that period are fascinating.  Alas, there are only 4 seats in the jeep. 

Yeah, our driver told us stories about the war as well as his job. He was the engineer charged with maintaining their wind powered electrical generators. It was interesting to see how almost all 4wd owning Islanders became driver/guides when cruise ships were in town. 

[Peregrina651]

49 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Yeah, our driver told us stories about the war as well as his job. He was the engineer charged with maintaining their wind powered electrical generators. It was interesting to see how almost all 4wd owning Islanders became driver/guides when cruise ships were in town. 

 

A bit of additional cash is alway welcome.