Falkland Islands - My visit to West Point Island in the Falkland Island Archipelago to see nesting Albatrosses and Rockhopper Penguins
In January 1994, as part of my 21-day cruise to Antarctica, we made a stop at West Point Island which is part of the Falkland Island Archipelago. One family owns the entire island and they do sheep farming as well as welcoming tourist to see the nesting Albatrosses and Rockhopper penguins that reside on the east side of their island. I really enjoyed having tea and talking to the English couple in their quaint farmhouse that day. They gave us a glimpse of what it was like living in such a remote place. After having tea (we did this in shifts as the tour group was very large) we trekked across the island to the east side. The story continues with text above each photo. I really enjoyed the beauty and the tranquility of this island. Forgive the quality of the photos as they were originally taken with a 35mm Nikon camera and later converted to digital format. I normally post photos of my art work, but occasionally I'll post other subjects as well.
We took tenders from the big ship, the Marco Polo, but stopped short of the shallow water. Then, we took Zodiac boats from the tender to shore. You can see the farmhouse in the background.
This is another view of the farmhouse from the beach. Neighbors from surrounding islands usually visit by sailboats.
This photo was taken as I was trekking from the farmhouse to the east side of the island. You can see our ship, the Marco Polo, in the background.
This is the east side of West Point Island where we observed nesting Albatrosses and Rockhopper Penguins. The English couple that owned the island told us that the weather was exceptionally nice that day. They said it was usually more windy.
This is a Black Browed Albatross nesting. Nest were everywhere we looked and the birds seemed very friendly.
Rockhopper Penguins.
Yes, all the white "dots" you see are Albatrosses nesting. It was an amazing site!
Albatross with chick. When I approached the nest, this Albatross seemed to say "please take my photo". These birds are very friendly indeed.
Thanks for reading. -Bob