The lead-up took a little longer than expected. The Selma, our ship, was being prepared for the upcoming season at a shipyard in Brazil and was unable to clear customs and set sail until later than planned.

She finally arrived here in Stanley just yesterday after ten days of sailing. The last crew members also arrived, so we’re now a complete team.

And so we had more than enough time to explore the area around Stanley. And, except for the last two days, we were very lucky with the weather.

Sometimes in one group, sometimes in another—in groups or alone—we set out: to see the penguins at Gypsie Cove and Yorke Bay, to the lighthouse at Cape Pembroke, where many fur seals hide in the tussock grass, strolling along the vast beaches, or hiking up the surrounding mountains.

Some set out on an off-road tour to see the king penguins at Volunteers

Karen, Unda, and I spent two days on Saunders Island, an island in the west—completely remote and all to ourselves in a small cabin, surrounded by magnificent natural scenery and, aside from that, only by the island’s numerous actual inhabitants: large breeding colonies of black-browed albatrosses and cormorants, king, gentoo, and Magellanic penguins, as well as numerous geese, ducks, and other seabirds. Seals hunting in the water and groups of Commerson’s and Peale’s dolphins surfing the surf, curiously circling us as we took a quick dip in the very cold water. And at the westernmost tip of the island, about a three-hour walk away, two small groups of elephant seals with newborn calves could be seen at Elephant Point. On our last morning, a southern right whale bid us farewell; it had apparently been having breakfast in the bay right in front of the cabin at the same time we were.

But now we’re all looking forward to leaving the Falklands behind for the time being and soon setting course for our actual destination, South Georgia.

Der Beitrag Epilogue: Falkland Islands erschien zuerst auf Sailing SOUTH Expeditions.