The Falkland Islands

Yesterday was a brief stop at the Falklands—very British, quaint and remote. They have no natural resources, the population is 3000 and there are 600,000 sheep. The only trees have been planted in the capital, and only city, Stanley. Everyone has a greenhouse for growing things. Otherwise, everything must be shipped in. There’s wonderful wildlife: sea lions, fur seals, elephant seals, 3 types of penguins and lots of interesting birds.

So why did Argentina invade in the 80s and Britain fight back so vigorously? Our lecturer is of the opinion that Argentina needed something to divert attention from the social, political and economic problems at home. And the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, fought back vigorously, protecting British rights, even though it’s thousands of miles from anything else British. There are “Falklands are British” signs in Stanley and “Malvenas Belong to Argentina” signs in Ushaia (Malvenas  is the Argentine name for the Falklands). Very interesting….

Picture 1 shows Stanley from the Bay. Of the 3000 residents, 2400 live in Stanley. The remaining residents live on large sheep farms throughout the islands. Little towns of 50 or less people grow up around these farms. Picture 2 shows the first building we saw as we walked down the main street—very British with lovely gardens (although types of flowers not grown on the British Isles).

Picture 3 shows the Anglican Cathedral in Stanley and 4 blue whale jawbones that celebrated 100 years of British rule. The Falklands started life as a whaling station. A sign in the church indicated that 60-70 people attend services each Sunday.

Pictures 4 and 5 give you some idea of the desolation of the islands. Picture 4 shows a shipwreck in the harbor that has sat there for a long time and is finally falling apart (after being used for storage for decades). The islands are beautiful in an eerie sense, but not exactly our first choice for vacation!