Thursday 8 March 2012

Nature in and around Port Stanley

Today we arrived in the early morning hours in a very calm Port Stanley. After the disembarkation procedures we divided into different groups, depending where you wanted to go: to the nature treck along the coast into the area of gipsy cove, to the penguin rookeries of bluff cove lagoon behind Stanley or just to go into the city and follow the historical path which leads you to the many places loaded with events and stories of the whole islands and the port.
The time passed too fast, the day was wonderful and while walking, no matter where it was, in the city, close to it or farther away, the bird wildlife was always present. All of us were very fortunate to have been able to observe from closer distance these magnificent shore birds like the Falkland flightless steamer duck, or the Magellanic oystercatcher, or the upland geese, and so on. Nature extended into the inner core of the city itself. The city is on the other hand and extension of British culture and its tradition as you can see from the pictures we took while strolling along its streets.
 
This time of the year is the beginning of the fishing season for the Patagonian toothfish and also for the squid. Therefore it was no wonder to see how fishing vessels were unloaded in the jetty with the priceless catches from the surrounding waters of the islands. There was a mood like being in the harvesting period, when everybody is happy to gather around the yielded crop = fish.The islanders which are called kelpers were very friendly to all of us and so were the few magellanic penguins which still remained in the breeding sites next to Stanley. It was a very calm summers day, with very little wind and a rather pleasant temperature. Our departure in the afternoon was accompanied by many flocks of seabirds and an spectacle of lighting.

Tonight we are sure that we are going to sleep very well with the fresh images of a wonderful day in our memories.