I have been thinking about the Falkland Islands this weekend. I have been watching a series of documentaries about the Falkland Islands called 51° South. The latest episode, Pigs will fly, and Penguins too, was just released last week. I first discovered 51° South when I found out that one of the divisions of the company I work for was one of their sponsors. Vern Cummins and Jamie Gallant have done a great job on the episodes released so far.

Two years ago my Sister and I visited the Falkland Islands on our way to Antarctica. The Falkland Islands are a fascinating place and I wish that we would have had more time to explore them, especially after seeing the documentaries that have been released so far. We were only able to get a small taste of the capital city Stanley.

The picture here is of Christ Church Cathedral, which is an Anglican Cathedral. It is the furthest South of any Anglican Cathedral and was built and consecrated in the 1890’s.

In front of the Cathedral is an arch that is made from the jawbones of two blue whales. The arch was built in 1933 from bones that had come from the South Shetland Islands. The arch commemorates the first 100 years of the Falkland Islands as a British Territory.

My Sister took a picture of me underneath the arch. The picture makes me feel like an explorer ready to set off on an adventure in the South Atlantic.

After exploring Stanley, we went to see penguins at Gypsy Cove. We were originally scheduled to go on an excursion further from Stanley, but the condition of the roads had delayed earlier tours and ours was canceled. Luckily, we were able to make quick arrangements to visit nearby Gypsy Cove. We were able to take a lot of pictures of Magellanic penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus. I have added one here, but will save others for a post specifically about penguins :-).

A group of penguins is called a waddle, and here we have a waddle of penguins.

Now to plan another trip to the Falkland Islands in the future. Anyone want to go with me?

Steven