Monthly Archives: December 2014

Fortuna Bay

At South Georgia, the ship started to receive visits from Snowy Sheathbills: The red stains are blood, and the green is penguin poo, which gives you an idea of their diet: Fascinating fact #1: the sheathbill is the only Antarctic … Continue reading

Posted in Nature, South Georgia, Travel | 1 Comment

Salisbury Plain

After a couple of days at sea, we woke up to a rare, mostly-sunny day at South Georgia. The chance to see this island was one of the main reasons we’d booked this particular trip, and we were lucky enough … Continue reading

Posted in Nature, South Georgia, Travel | Comments Off on Salisbury Plain

Stanley

Our second and last day in the Falklands was spent in and around Stanley. The “town” is really a couple of streets, with cheerful houses behind: People are very British: We headed however for Cape Pembroke, just past the airport: … Continue reading

Posted in Falkland Islands, Nature, Travel | Comments Off on Stanley

Carcass Island

Our second stop in the Falklands was Carcass Island, near West Point Island in the north-west of the archipelago. It has a somewhat bizarre landscape which includes palm trees: And penguins among the heather and gorse: The special feature of … Continue reading

Posted in Falkland Islands, Nature | Comments Off on Carcass Island

West Point

Our first stop was West Point Island, in the Falklands. The landscape was very familiar for Scottish tourists:   The main attraction was the colony of black-browed albatrosses and rockhopper penguins. The first sign that we were approaching was the … Continue reading

Posted in Falkland Islands, Nature, Travel | 1 Comment

Overboard

For some of us, the main attraction of the sea days was peering over the back of the boat, and enjoying the bird life. In the Beagle Channel, we had flocks of South American Terns; at the speed which they … Continue reading

Posted in Nature, Travel | Comments Off on Overboard

Life on Fram

On the first of December, we boarded the MV Fram and set off down the Beagle Channel. There’s a fair bit of shipping on this route going to Ushuia and the Chilean naval base at Puerto Williams, set against a … Continue reading

Posted in Travel | Comments Off on Life on Fram

Tierra del Fuego

Our hours between flight and boat before and after the voyage were spent being taken around the environs of Ushuaia. The second of these trips involved spending three hours in a bus with misted-up windows, peering out at a spectrum … Continue reading

Posted in Argentina, Nature | Comments Off on Tierra del Fuego

Buenos Aires

We started and finished our trip in Buenos Aires, which was a fine repository of amusing signs. Starting with the most puerile: This last was in a pleasant surprise: a nature reserve right next to the city centre, but which … Continue reading

Posted in Argentina, Nature, Society | Comments Off on Buenos Aires