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The Falkland Islands swarm with subantarctic wildlife, ranging from tiny tussac birds to penguins and gigantic marine mammals. The beaches, headlands and rolling moorlands of the Falkland Islands (or Las Islas Malvinas, as they are known in Argentina, which lays claim to them) are reminiscent of northern Scotland.

The islands are increasingly prosperous thanks to a thriving squid fishery and are far removed from the 1982 conflict between Britain and Argentina that dramatically—albeit temporarily—ended their quiet isolation. Also, with improved communications, a steady stream of cruise-ship passengers and independent travelers are making their way to a scenic archipelago whose population of kelpers (as natives of the Falkland Islands are known) is ready to greet them. Tourism is now the islands' principal source of revenue.

Geography

The Falklands consist of two large islands, West Falkland and East Falkland, and about 720 smaller ones, only a few of them inhabited. Most of the population lives in the capital of Stanley, on East Falkland, but dozens of other settlements and farmsteads dot West Falkland and some offshore islands.

Anywhere in the Falklands outside Stanley is called the Camp, from the Spanish campo (countryside).

History

The Falklands' murky history of discovery and settlement remains entwined in political controversies over their ownership. Credit for their discovery goes alternately to Spanish and British explorers. However, much of the evidence is vague. Since the late 18th century, France, Spain, Britain and Argentina have claimed them, although the population has been largely of British descent and nationality since the 1830s. By the late 19th century, the London-based Falkland Islands Company and several other British individuals and families had turned the islands into sprawling sheep ranches.

The Argentine claim stems from a colonial Spanish claim, when the "Malvinas" were a penal colony and then a large cattle ranch. For a century and a half, only wool buyers and stamp collectors paid much attention, but that changed in April 1982 when an Argentine military junta tried to distract an unhappy population from domestic woes by invading the islands. Thousands of Argentine troops landed on the Malvinas, but were soon ousted by a British expeditionary force (sent by a British government equally eager to distract a population beset by domestic woes). Although Argentina continues to press its claim diplomatically, the islands remain under British control, and relations between the two once-warring nations are fully normalized.

Snapshot

Potpourri

Stanley is the same latitude south as London is north.

Southern sea lions sometimes hide in the outer islands' giant tussac grass, which can grow up to 10 ft/3 m.

In the 19th century, South American gauchos (cowboys) once ranged the islands. They are gone and horses are fewer, but local riders still craft and use gaucho-style horse-gear.

The Falklands have a high density of historic shipwrecks, some of which can be visited with local operators. The sites of seven surprisingly intact vessels can be seen on a self-guided walking tour of Stanley Harbour (each ship is marked by a signpost on shore).

Saunders Island was the site of the islands' first British settlement, and 18th-century ruins still stand. Nearby Keppel Island has ruins of a 19th-century mission that brought Amerindians from Tierra del Fuego.

There are no native trees in the Falklands (any you see were planted from imported seeds).

Charles Darwin paid two brief visits to the Falklands and suffered miserable weather, but on the basis of later reports he concluded that "it appears we took an exaggerated view of the badness of the climate…"

For most of the Falklands' history, sweet-smelling local peat has been the main cooking and heating fuel, but diesel has nearly replaced it.

Unique to the islands, periglacial "stone runs" of quartzite boulders cover the sides of many hills, especially on East Falkland.

Location

In Stanley, cruise ships dock in the outer harbor of Port William and are tendered into Stanley Harbour, where they come ashore at central Stanley's Public Jetty. The Jetty Visitors Centre has information, Internet access and taxis, with restaurants and shops nearby. Ships normally spend the day in port and sail at night.

In the Camp, including small offshore islands with wildlife sites, passengers normally come ashore in Zodiac inflatable rafts.

Shore Excursions

From Stanley, shore excursions include visits to the capital's Falkland Islands Museums, and to the gentoo penguin colony at Bluff Cove and the large king penguin colony at Volunteer Point. Battlefield tours are also possible.

Camp tours are usually disembarkations from the mother ship by Zodiac inflatables to wildlife sites; some involve extensive hiking, although others include Land Rover excursions. As a rule, these are included on smaller ships, but extra on the larger boats.