If anyone has questions about the Falklands...

[ScottishMaid]

Your blog is great. You have the most detailed photos I've seen of the trip. We are booked to travel on the Veendam from San Diego to Santiago to Rio between Oct. 31 and Dec. 5 2009. Since we live in LA this means we fly one way only. However the trade off is that this first of the season Cape Horn/ Falklands trip does NOT do the 4 days to Antarctica.

So two questions: Firstly was Antarctica the highlight or would the Chilean glaciers and Falklands be worthwhile? Secondly we are there at least a month earlier than you (Falklands at end Nov.). Any thoughts on that?

Thanks!

[Campbell soup]

Hi Samantha,

Bob and I loved our time in the Falklands. We tried to find you and met many interesting people who tried to help. We took a picture of the house we think is yours and I will send it to you soon. If people tell you they tried to find you, and call you, it was us doing the looking. I was really hoping to meet you and have a cup of tea with you. All of your advice was wonderful. We truelly enjoyed your lovely island (and the penguins, of course). Karen

[edgew]

I’m hoping I can find a photographer who has gone on the Sparrow Cove penguin tour.

I have a Canon 5D2, a full-frame DSLR. I’m wondering what lenses I should bring on that particular tour. Due to weight constraints I’d prefer as few as possible, but I don’t really know how close we’ll be getting. I have the following available:

Sigma 12-24

Canon 24-105/4 L IS (my regular carry lens)

Canon 70-200/4 L IS

Tamron 90/2.8 macro (can’t think of why I’d need it, but . . .)

Sigma 150-500 OS

Kenko 1.4 TC

 

These are the only ones that I could see any reason for taking. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

[dfb]

Not a photographer, but you are VERY close to the penguins at Sparrow Cove. Doubt you will have need of any super telephoto lens.

http://circle-south-america-2008-aboard.blogspot.com/2008/02/day-28-january-31-2008-port-stanley.html

Edited January 26, 2009 by dfb

[edgew]

Thanks muchly! Looks like I could get by with only the wide-angle and walk-around lens. To tell the truth, I was not much looking forward to hauling around that 150-500. It’s pretty heavy and quite long! But I’m surely looking forward to getting some good use out of it from the deck when we’re cruising around the horn!

[Gixer]

Hello all :)

 

Sorry I havent been active in the forum for a while, I have been out of the Islands, I broke my hand just after Christmas and had to go to the UK for surgery as the joints in my fingers were smashed and needed pinning (You would think I of all people would remember about the dangers of high winds and vehicle doors right?! :eek:)

 

Glenys & Alan, thank you so much for the cute Koala bear! I cant believe you guys brought that all the way from Australia for me! That was really kind, thank you :o

 

Bob & Karen, so glad you enjoyed your trip - its lovely to be in contact with you now via Facebook!

 

I havent had a chance to read back through the thread yet, but I did see a post from someone asking about Penguins in April - TBH April is not a great time, its right at the end of the season, if you want to see penguins then you need to be thinking about booking a tour to Volunteer point to see the kings or Bluff/Sparrow cove to see the Gentoos as they are resident all year round, the magellanics and rockhoppers will have mostly left by then apart from a few late hatching chicks.

[helpmesailaway]

Hello Gixer

 

Hope your hand heals in a hurry!!!!! Sorry this happened to you:(

 

We loved our visit to the Falkland Islands and our tour with Patrick Watts. Very charming place and you have been a wonderful help to so many.

 

Now rest - and feel better!! :)

[Tracy&Jason]

Gixer, thanks for all of the insight! Have you heard of a place called North Pond on the NOrth coast of the Falklands? All of the guides we have contacted are booked for Volunteer POint but one suggested NOrth Pond instead. They said that you can see Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins who nest and some visiting King penguins. We´re disappointed not to make it to Volunteer Point but would North Pond be a reasonable substitution or should we just stick with Kidney Cove or the one you can take a shuttle to as they are significantly less expensive. Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[S&B]

Gixer,

Thanks for all of your wonderful help. We just returned from Stanley. It was such a beautiful day that I could not believe it. We went to the Lagoon Bluff and had so much fun taking pictures of the penguins and watching them. I have emailed the pics to our two sons and they cannot believe it.

 

Thanks again.

 

S&B (Come see us in Florida)

[chloe kitty]

Hello,

We will be in Stanley on March 23, Star Princess. We have been invited to join a penguin tour to North Point. Is it a good viewing point? Are there usually quite a few penguins and babies at that time of year? We are not wilderness people, but are animal lovers and are very interested in having a good viewing of the Penguins. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you

[chloe kitty]

Gixer/Samantha -

 

I cannot thank you enough for the wealth of information you have provided for all of us curious cruisers! Bless you for taking the time out of your busy life!

 

I will be visiting the Falklands on the Star Princess on January 21st with my family and after reading your postings and seeing your pictures, I can't wait to see your fair island!

 

I am the proud mother of 2 ragdoll cats - one sealpoint mitted and one blue lynx mitted (named Legolas, nicknamed Leggy - add that to my profession of opera singer and you get my user name). Aren't they the best cats ever?! I'm curious - is there a ragdoll breeder there in Stanley or did you have to import your Gixer?

 

All the best,

Amy

Hi Samantha and Amy,

 

I have 7 cats. One day when I was doing my volunteer work at a no kill shelter, a beautiful Ragdoll came in. I just couldn't take another cat, but I put her on hold for my girlfriend. The cat is just wonderful. She is smart, beautiful, and a real lover. So, I understand how you feel about this breed.'

My husband and I have a Bengal, Munchkin (in case you haven't heard of them, mine is seal point coloring, and very short legs), a snowshoe, a Himalayan, and the rest are just lovables.

 

Take care of those beauties!

 

Ellen

[Bennies]

Hello,

We will be in Stanley on March 23, Star Princess. We have been invited to join a penguin tour to North Point. Is it a good viewing point? Are there usually quite a few penguins and babies at that time of year? We are not wilderness people, but are animal lovers and are very interested in having a good viewing of the Penguins. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you

 

Hi,

 

I have not actually been to North Pond but there are Gentoo and Magellanic penguins there, who will still have babies, although most of the babies are now getting big, I also understand that there are some King Penguins there and apparently there is one on an egg at the moment, so you may get lucky and see a baby king too. I am sure you will be able to get a good view of the penguins there, Hope this is of some help to you

[beckntom]

Most of us who post answers/advice/information for fellow cruisers do so with the best intentions. We also understand that the information provided by others (and ourselves) is not "official", "professional", or "expert" advice. Our intent is to share our experiences and opinions and let the reader make their own, informed choices.

 

 

Extremely well said.

[Gixer]

I dont want to get into any forum arguments, I use these boards for research, for fun and to keep in touch with cruise friends. However I now feel the need to defend myself, as it was never my intention to mislead anyone.

 

The inacurracies quoted seem to be with Rockhoppers at Bluff and North Pond. I have checked back through the thread and cant actually see where I have said there are Rockhoppers at Bluff, but if I have then it is most definatley a Typo. There are several posts in which I have described many of the tours in detail and what wildlife can be seen at each, here are a few examples -

 

Taken from post 14 on page 1, as you can see no Rockhoppers at Bluff are mentioned -

 

Bluff Cove is a great tour, but Im going to be perfectly frank here, it cannot in any way compare to Volounteer point. At Bluff cove you will see nesting ***** penguins, Gentoos and a few visiting kings. Volounteer point has the second largest breeding colony of kings in the world, and also an abundence of ***** and gentoo's, that really is quite some sight. Bluff cove is a great experience, really wonderful, and you wont be dissapointed or travelling for a significant period of time so you will still have time to explore town.

 

Also, futher on in the thread post 227 on page 14 has the actual cruise ship info on where Rockhoppers can be seen -

 

View over 400 rockhopper penguins in their natural environment with stunning views of Berkeley Sound in the background. This is your one and only opportunity to photograph these cute penguins on your ships itinerary. You'll be picked up by your experienced local driver/guide in Port Stanley and driven 60 minutes to the penguin colony. Your journey will be in a comfortable 4 x 4 vehicle and will begin on the road to the Murrell Farm where it will then become an exciting overland experience, driving over the rolling peaty moor. This exclusive tour will take in views of your ship and Stanley also. These penguins have never before been available for viewing by cruise passengers. It is merely the building of the road that has now made them accessible. Youll have one hour 20 minutes to photograph these penguins with only a small group of people along. A guide will accompany you throughout your visit at the penguin site. Refreshments and snacks will be served.

 

The situation with North Pond, this tour is a new one on me and one I havent been on yet. When I asked my neighbour if he knew where North Pond was, his reply was ''Well the only North Pond I know Che is the one where we go fishing on the Murrell'' Having since dragged out an OS map and looked for North Pond, I was shocked at just how many ponds there actually are! There are hundreds! The only North Pond I can see that might be the new excursion is the one up past Elephant Beach, and above that is also a Swan Pond, which isnt to be confused with Swan Inlet pond.

 

As it stands at the moment I can hold my hands up and say I have honestly no idea where North Pond is or what wildlife is there, I quoted what I thought was a reliable source at the time, in all other instances where I have been unsure of something then I have said so in the thread, have checked out the info and then come back and passed it on. I apologise that the North Pond info got lost in the thread and I didnt check it out sooner (possibly due to having a house built and spending 5 weeks in the UK recently having surgery?)

 

Anyway, mistakes do happen, but I am confident that all the other info I have posted is 100% correct.

 

Bennies, the last thing I want to do is mislead people or cause problems for local guides, but staying on top of a thread like this isnt alway easy, in just the couple of posts that you yourself have made, you already have inaccuracies, the cost of the Gypsy Cove tour is now actually $20 and not $10 like it was last season. Chloe Kitty asked your advice on a tour to North Point - in your reply you have assumed she meant North Pond, so going on your reliable information, she might well have got off the tender thinking she was heading to North Point only to end up bitterly dissapointed and taking it out on the guides as to why on earth she is at a Pond.

I havent brought this to your attention to cause any bad feeling between us, just to show you how very easily errors can occur. You gave Chloe Kitty advice with the best of intentions, even though a simple typo has rendered that advice inaccurate, but I would never have accused you of misleading her.

 

I hope you enjoy helping out cruisers as much as I did, it is very rewarding, especially when people post after their cruise has ended what a wonderful time they had in the Islands.

 

Thank You forum member for all the support, I'm glad that some of the advice was useful to you and enabled you to have fantastic experiences in the Falklands, ultimatley that was all I ever hoped for.

 

Happy cruising to all xxx

[Gixer]

Disclaimer - With regards to this statement in the above post ''Anyway, mistakes do happen, but I am confident that all the other info I have posted is 100% correct.''

 

I just want to make it clear that I am of course confident in the info I have posted in a non tourist board official way ;)

[ancientmariner]

Please can someone tell me if the currency used is sterling £ or do Falklands have their own currency? No point in my changing £ into $ if I can use sterling there. Thanks

[julieanne]

They have their own currency, the Falkland Island Pound. I used credit cards, but if I remember they didn't seem to have any issues with foreign currency.

[Fabian52]

we are leaving 2-19 for antartica on a princes cruise and would love to hear from anyone who has taken the rockhoopper tour in port stanley.

is it worth taking?

how bumpy and long is the drive to get there?

do you see alot of penguins?

any advise would be greatlyappreciated.

you can e-mail me directly to: dnsnduo44@cox.net

thanks in advance,

barbara

We did the Rockhopper Penguin Tour in Stanley on Dec- 7-21st cruise on the Norweigan sun. The ride out to see the penguins is about 40 minutes on rolling meaty moss which is not that bad. It is not smooth but a soft roll sort of. They go very slow so its not that bad.

Once you get there you get about 45 minutes to view the penguins. They are right in front of you, roped off withing about 5 feet. They hop around the rocks and are very cute. You also have a great view of the cliffs and the ocean smashing against the waves. They are very strange looking but the are fun to watch and take pictures and video of.

We also went on the tour to see the Magellic penguin in Puerta Madryn. That is definitely worth seeing. The penguins walk right out among you and are quite cute and you can see them coming in and out of the ocean with the waves. We took the cruise ship tours and were not disappointed.

Happy cruising. :o

[chloe kitty]

Hi Samantha,

 

It seems as if some of the posts have just disappeared. We would love to meet you and meet your Gixer. We are arriving on the Star Princess. We are taking the tour with Patrick to Volunteer point. We would love to fit some time in with you.

 

Ellen

[chloe kitty]

Samantha,

 

I read something in one of these threads about walking thru Penguin poo.

 

Do you think it would be adviseable to wear rubber boots? I know this is a strange question, but I am in the process of putting clothes together to pack.

 

Thank you,

 

Ellen

[Gixer]

Hiya Ellen,

 

I wouldnt worry too much about the penguin poop, walking boots or sturdy footwear will be fine, you wont need rubber boots. Drop me an email hun at samantha.john@yahoo.co.uk and I will give you my phone number so that when you get back from your penguin trip I can come meet you :)

 

I'm going to be taking a break from the forum for a while, I am still in the middle of moving house (hope to be finally in by the end of next week) and we are then off to Florida for the Easter holidays and will be out of the Islands for over 6 weeks.

 

Happy cruising to all xxx

[Nonna and Papa]

Dear Samantha,

 

I've been a lurker on your thread for several months as I plan our cruises for next February and March. I wanted to comment, before you left on your vacation that I, as many others have already mentioned, am so happy that you didn't stop posting. Your information and suggestions have helped us plan our day in the Falklands next year (we've booked Partick), and I'd like to extend my thanks.

 

Your happy, courteous way will draw more and more folks to this thread, and I hope you will continue to share your time as well as your tips and answers for a long time to come. You should take pride in what you have accomplished here, and your kindness serves us as a welcoming ambassador to the Port Stanley area.

 

Have a wonderful time in Florida.

 

Mary

[debsjc]

Hi Gixer

 

I'm not sure if you will get to see this, but hopefully you will.

I just wanted to say thank you very much for your advice on the penguin excursions.

 

We took the Bluff cove tour with the ship and loved it, I would recommend it to anyone. The beach there is so beautiful, and we saw Gentoos, 6 Kings with babies, and 1 Magellenic. It was was amazing to be so close to them - probably about 12 foot away, when they waddled towards us!

Also our landrover driver, Eric, was a very interesting man, and a pleasure to chat to.

 

Seeing the town, and meeting the friendly local people was also great. :D

[ScottishMaid]

We will be in the Falklands November 27th 2009, 10 am to 4 pm.

From what I read this is too little time to go to Volunteer Point. Is this correct?

 

Our choices of ship's penguin tours are

1) Bluff Cove 3 hours $169

2) Sparrow Cove 2 and half to 3 hours $175

3) Kidney Island by catamaran 3 hours $179 I've heard this one gets canceled by weather.

4) "Due to brand new road construction, this is the very first year visitors see Rockhopper penguins" It is at Murrell farm 4 hours $189

 

It is confusing with the different kinds of penguins and choice of places!

We are early in the season so I'd love opinions on where might be best for seeing action. Will we see chicks at any of the places? Also if a tour is offered at 10:30 and 12:30, is earlier better for "action" ?

Last question: do all the tours pass within sight of the battlefield areas?

 

Thanks so much for your replies,

Jill

[chloe kitty]

We were in the Fauklins in March and went to Volunteer point. There is no doubt that it is the best place to see the Penguins, however it does take at least 2 hours to get there and 2 hours back. That doesn't really leave much time to mingle with the King Penguins. It could be done, but really rushed!!

Since this is a tender port, it makes time that much shorter.

 

Good luck and enjoy the Fauklins.