Last night we invited Neil and Norma Downie to our dinner table as Jessica and Jim had dinner with friends and we all had a great evening. For those of you that do not know, Neil and Norma were on the first segment of the 2010 World Voyage and we enjoyed them then as well as now. Norma was the person who organized the Cabin Crawl we talked about yesterday.

           Neil and Norma                                   Marilyn and Glen

Check our Norma’s necklace.  It can be folded into all sorts of designs.  Gloria really liked it.  Norma purchased it at the Sunday Buenos Aires market.

Alan and Gail                                       Gloria and Brad

Yesterday we posted how beautiful Holland America flowers are. Above is just two examples from the dining room.

Wow!  We made you wade through a lot stuff to get to the real today, Stanley Falkland Islands:

When you first tender into Stanley the above is your first sight. Once in port the Catholic Church and Whale Bone Arch are among the towns must sees, below:

During the long and bumpy ride to the Lowes Ranch to see the Rockhopper Penguins above and below are a few of the sights.  The first picture below is of Upland Geese,  the male is grey and white in color, and female goose is brown in color.   These geese are all over the Island.

At the ranch we transferred into 4 wheel drive vehicles for a one hour ride out to the Rockhopper Penguins and here is what we saw:

The 4 wheel drive is about an hour long and extremely bumpy as there are absolutely no roads.  Although the day was wonderful, be prepared for about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour tender and  drive to see these penguins and remember, it is that long to return.  Gloria wishes she had brought something to eat from the ship because we did not return to the ship until after 5pm which means no lunch.  In the future she will bring some cheese and crackers.  The penguins were incredible to see, however the wind was really blowing hard.  Gloria felt like she was going to be blown over.  After viewing the penguins and Brad taking his pictures, we spent the rest of the hour waiting for our ride back in the food hut.  There were wooden benches and a heater in the hut.  Most of the passengers did the same.  

When we were at the penguin area, there are portable toilets only, not Gloria’s favorite restroom.  There is a small hut where we could have free hot drinks and homemade goodies “Traditionally cooked by Lisa Lowe”.  Lisa had prepared laminated business size cards with each goody recipe.  She had a picture of the treat on one side and the recipe on the other.  Gloria’s favorites were the shortbread and the chocolate cake.  Yum!   Lisa had a few souvenirs for sale at reasonable prices as well.  All in all it was a great day and we were grateful to finally make it to the Island.  This is our fourth scheduled stop on cruises to the Falklands and very first time we could actually make it to the island. Because of the uncertainty of the tender operation, this is a place we would only recommend a ship’s tour.  Getting a tour on your own could result in missing the ship’s untimely departure which has happened in the past.