Port Stanley
4×4 Drive to Volunteer Point Penguin Colonies
Today, we are traveling to see penguins on Volunteer Point, which is a peninsula to the north of East Falkland. It is a four hour journey round trip from the Falklands capital of Port Stanley. The mode of transportation is a 4×4 Land Rover, owned by Matt, our driver. The drive certainly tests the skills of the most experienced off-road driver due to the softness of the peat, the size and placement of rocks and if it rained the previous two days (and it had). We are a group of 7 4×4’s and travel as a caravan so that if someone has a problem like getting stuck in a muddy ditch; someone can hook up a tow and pull you out. Four of our seven vehicles got stuck at some point during the trip. It was one wild ride. Don’t know how many times we hit our heads on the roof but it was worth every bump on the noggin.
Volunteer Point is a 2-mile long white sandy beach, bordered by high grassy banks leading down to rolling greens. These provide the ideal habitats for three breeding species of penguin: Gentoo, Magellanic and King. Volunteer Point is part of Johnson’s Harbour Farm, which is one of the largest surviving farms in private ownership in the Falklands. Its 52,000 acres is shared with 10,000 sheep, thousands of penguins and seabirds of all types. The owners set the rules that the visitors must follow. We walked for two hours with penguins and sheep and it was awesome. The juvenile penguins are very curious and want to sniff you; the adults pay no attention UNLESS you decide to get too close to a nesting area or a burrow. Then bad things happen. Lots of nesting going on and lots of babies losing their fur.
The King penguins are black and white and have what look like orange ear muffs on. The Gentoo are black and white and have some white spotting on the sides of their heads and their flippers blush pin on the undersides. The Magellanic are characterized by the presence of a broad crescent of white feathers that extends from just above each eye to the chin. They also dig burrows for nests to protect themselves and their chicks rather than nesting on top of the ground.
Matt had to drag us kicking and screaming back into the 4×4 because we did not want to leave this amazing place. Eventually, we all had to give up the fight and climb into our vehicles. The return trip was just as wild but we all made it safely back on board.