Stanley
Our final day in the Falklands would be spent enjoying different activities in its capital, Stanley—or Port Stanley as it was originally named. In the morning a town tour was offered, during which the local highlights were pointed out with the usual British understatement. Amongst these were: the war memorial from World War I and the 1982 conflict; the Natural History garden-consisting of whale bones; and a local man cutting peat for the few left in town that still burn it as a source of heat. It is quite amazing to think of the British colonizing a small set of islands some 6,000 miles from home and still being able to cut peat as has been done for generations in the British Isles.
Others took part of the afternoon and hiked up Tumbledown Mountain and paid their respects to the skirmish line that existed between the Argentines and the British during the Falklands War of 1982. Shopping was the battle cry for others as from here on down to South Georgia and Antarctica the buying opportunities become few and far between.
One of the symbols of Stanley is the four whale bones placed in an arch next to the cathedral. Whaling was done in the Southern Oceans to an amazingly efficient degree. Many of those whaling ships wintered here in Stanley before heading back to the harvest farther south. We will be witness to those stations when we explore our next land stop: South Georgia.
Our final day in the Falklands would be spent enjoying different activities in its capital, Stanley—or Port Stanley as it was originally named. In the morning a town tour was offered, during which the local highlights were pointed out with the usual British understatement. Amongst these were: the war memorial from World War I and the 1982 conflict; the Natural History garden-consisting of whale bones; and a local man cutting peat for the few left in town that still burn it as a source of heat. It is quite amazing to think of the British colonizing a small set of islands some 6,000 miles from home and still being able to cut peat as has been done for generations in the British Isles.
Others took part of the afternoon and hiked up Tumbledown Mountain and paid their respects to the skirmish line that existed between the Argentines and the British during the Falklands War of 1982. Shopping was the battle cry for others as from here on down to South Georgia and Antarctica the buying opportunities become few and far between.
One of the symbols of Stanley is the four whale bones placed in an arch next to the cathedral. Whaling was done in the Southern Oceans to an amazingly efficient degree. Many of those whaling ships wintered here in Stanley before heading back to the harvest farther south. We will be witness to those stations when we explore our next land stop: South Georgia.
