After departing Buenos Aires on our way to Antarctica, the MS Fram expedition ship – on which I worked as an expedition guide – visited the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina. The Argentinians call the islands Islas Malvinas and consider the archipelago part of Argentina. Although the Falklands War between Great Brittain and Argentina found place back in 1982, the conflict is still not settled.

Besides the war monuments in Stanley, everything else on the island group was extremely peaceful. With our ship, we landed at the islands of Saunders, West Point, and Carcass. At Saunders, there was the opportunity to walk along the sandy beaches of The Neck, amidst Gentoo and king penguins (the last-mentioned with their furry chickens), big whale bones, and black-browed albatrosses.

At West Point Island, we hiked to Devil’s Nose, a rocky promontory with cliffs and patches of tussac grass, home to black-browed albatross and Rockhopper penguins. Another stunning longer hike on Carcass Island led us to Leopard Beach, full of Gentoo penguins and an occasional Adelié penguin. 

In the capital town of Stanley, we met up with civilization, just before we would leave it again to set sail to our next destination: South Georgia.