Port Stanley (Falklands) and Cape Horn

The next day is at sea as we head towards Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Everybody decides to take it quietly. A bit of reading, sleeping, trivia, casino (and no not me I am retired injured). Mish has taken to the spa and the gym on board and can usually be found at one or the other.

The kids are well (Justin recovering from his cold) and it is lovely to see them bonding more strongly than they already were. Mish and Justin are looking forward to their Antarctic tour aboard a Chilean transport plane to a Science Station. It is subject to minimum numbers so they are sweating that one out.

The next day we wake to find ourselves in Port Stanley. The Falkland Islands is home to around 3,000 inhabitants of which 2,100 live in Port Stanley. I asked the guide how one can live in the Falklands and he indicates that it is not possible at this time unless you are a shoe repairer – which they are obviously in need of.

All schooling, hospital, medical and dental is free on the Islands and the guide explained the tax system which is 13,000 pounds no tax up to a maximum rate of 26%. The main industries are wool and tourism (60,000 per annum).

The island is quite desolate and why one would fight a war over it in which 250 English and 600 Argentineans would die is a little amazing. It is of course very English with the currency, the Falkland Pound being interchangeable with the English Pound. Mum did a walking tour??, we did a two hour familiarisation tour by bus in the morning and Jerome and family did an ornithological (bird watching) tour in the afternoon.

After the tour we had lunch at the brasserie – I am guessing the only one apart from the two pubs in Port Stanley. Danielle tried the local delicacy of Upland Goose (as a pie) while Justin and I opted for the fish and chips – all quite tasty. We then headed back to the ship.

The weather is getting colder as we head south. It was a very pleasant 14 and sunny in the Falklands – much better apparently than we could have expected.

In the tender towards Port Stanley we met a gay couple from New York aged 65 and 81 one of whom was a ‘yackner’ and Jewish while the other was quite reserved and I though not Jewish. Lo and behold we decide to go to Shabbat services and the two of them were running it after asking the ship if this would be OK. The ship had siddurim and kosher wine and cooked two challot. More interestingly there were about 40 people there – even with three Sterns missing – guess who?

That evening we ate at the Steakhouse and I invited the two New Yorkers to join us. They were very interesting – both very active in the Jewish Reform movement in America. The older was an attorney while the other was a painter. One even had a 26 year old nephew who he thought would be suitable for Danielle and who, as a sports producer for Fox with access to sports tickets throughout America then very much interested Justin.

I don’t know what it is but this doing not very much is very tiring. I decided to head for bed – bear in mind it was 23:30 at this stage.

A little about the ship. We are on level 10, one below the penthouse suites. The newer ships are very different – they are built with 5 decks of balcony cabins and only two decks of porthole/window cabins – about the reverse of what it used to be. The cabins are exceptionally well laid out with plenty of storage areas, a mini bar, couch, coffee table. The TV shows CNN, Fox News, movie channels, ship information channels, kids channels etc.. The only minor disappointment is how small the TV is – 11 or 14 inch.

Facilities on board include 11 restaurants, various bars and lounges, a coffee shop with Lavazza coffee (could be hotter but taste is OK), an internet lounge with around 20 computers or wi-fi if one wishes to use their own computer. Internet charges range from $US0.75 a minute down to $US0.40 per minute if one buys a package. There is cellular reception via satellite on board which I found surprising.

As one would expect everything runs very smoothly on the ship from the tours to the tendering ashore when not moored at a wharf.

So it is now morning of our day at sea and tonight we arrive at Cape Horn at 18:30 this evening when sunset is 22:04 and sunrise tomorrow will be 04:55 – so long days.

More soon after Ushuia
David