After yesterday's excursions to some of the Falklands least-inhabited destinations (by people, anyway), today's visit to Stanley provided a sharp contrast. Stanley is a small city of colorful houses, shops, museums, and war memorials. And the occasional tribute to Margaret Thatcher, who successfully defended Great Britain's turf here against the Argentinian invasion in 1982. We strolled around town at our own pace and patronized the shops selling wool items, and, of course, penguin-related gear. A favorite stop was the post office, where a wide selection artistic plates of stamps depicting the history and wildlife of the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and Antarctica made unique souvenirs.
Part of the group kayaked the waters around the island while us landlubbers hiked Gypsy Cove, an area where wildlife thrived due a particular problem with the real estate: old land mines from the war were still being found and detonated as recently as the previous year. Magellanic penguins, too light to trip the mines, burrowed in the grassy hills and fished off the beach, while humans watched them from a safe distance on the trail. And that rounded out our experience at the Falklands: two days of perfect weather and cooperative wildlife to tide us over for our journey through the Drake Passage to South Georgia Island.
But just to hedge my bets, I also scheduled myself a massage for that afternoon. Because when else am I going to get spa services in the Drake Passage? Holy wow. Two years later we still rank all massages against that one: ''He was good, but he was no Keith.''
To ring in the New Year, our gang of 7 gathered for dinner, a special feast prepared by the chef. The staff had planned ahead and dressed up and we followed suit as best we could, though often our version of fancy turned out to be ''clean!'' or ''not yet worn''. We hit the wine list hard, and managed to coax each other into staying up for the party in the lounge. As a group. we celebrated the many nationalities that were sharing this night together, with each performing an impromptu song that somehow represented their country of origin: Germany, Hong Kong, India, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, England, Canada, and the U.S.. There was some real talent on the ship. Which made the U.S.'s rendition of the Chicken Dance, in which I participated, even more pathetic. But the Canadians rounded out the night with comic relief, as they hummed the theme from the Canadian Broadcasting Company's hockey night broadcasts, led by Ian the Bartender. A trip to the bridge to see the Southern Cross, a champagne toast, and dancing into the wee hours of the morning rounded out the evening. It was a New Year's Eve unlike any I'm likely to experience again.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.