On Long Island, 20 miles from Stanley, is a 22,000-acre sheep farm belonging to a 6th generation Falkland Island family, whose traditional way of life, with a dairy and using sheep dogs and island-bred horses to gather sheep, is popular with cruise passengers and day trippers. There are excellent hikes along the beach and shore of Berkeley Sound, with rockhopper, gentoo and magellanic penguins.
Volunteer Point, on the peninsula north of Berkeley Sound, is a wildlife sanctuary (entry £15, included in tour price, £7.50 for each extra day; open 1 Nov to Apr. Good toilets at the site. The wardens, Derek and Trudi Pettersson (till end of 2010 season), offer lodging for 4 people sharing, £35 with three meals, camping £10 for first night, £5 thereafter, Nov-Apr, T55200, drp@horizon.co.fk. On cruise ship days many vehicles go in convoy to Volunteer Point) . It contains the only substantial nesting colony of king penguins outside of South Georgia (the most accessible site in the world). Gentoo and magellanic penguins, geese and other birds can be photographed easily, but keep a respectful distance. Sea lions and dolphins may be seen from the beautiful beach. It is on a private farm approximately 2½ hours drive from Stanley: 1 hour to Johnson’s Harbour on a good road (37 miles), then 1½ hours over the camp (12 miles, no permanent track). Visits are arranged with local guides who know the route and understand local conditions.
Bertha’s Beach, a 10-minute drive from Mount Pleasant Military Complex, is popular for its beautiful white sand beach with abundant bird life. Dolphins often come close to shore as they hunt in the shallows. To get through the locked gate to the beach, ask for the key from the farm manager at Fitzroy (T32384).
Beyond Mount Pleasant, the road divides, one branch turning north to San Carlos , the other going to Darwin (1½-2 hours from Stanley), a little community with the wreck of the Vicar of Bray (last survivor of the California Gold Rush fleet). Another old iron ship, the Garland, can de seen up the bay. Just before Darwin is the Argentine cemetery for those killed in the 1982 conflict, and just beyond, the larger settlement of Goose Green. The Galley Café is usually open 0900- 2100; contact Trudi Lee (T32228) about self- catering in a 3-bedroom house, open all year £15 per person. From Goose Green a road runs to the ferry dock for West Falkland at New Haven (35 minutes). Apart from an out-of- bounds gentoo colony, there is nothing at the ramp. North Arm is one of four settlements in the flat expanses of Lafonia, a three-hour drive from Stanley. Bull Point is the most southerly point of East Falkland; its wildlife includes 32 species of birds. Also near North Arm are Tweeds Valley, 53 species of flora and fauna, and Fanny Cove, with some great rock formations. These locations can only be reached off-road so a tour guide is necessary.
The road to San Carlos is hilly, with lovely views of higher mountains inland and the bays and inlets of Falkland Sound to the west. San Carlos (2 hours from Stanley) is a picturesque waterside settlement and an excellent base for explorating upper East Falkland. Here is the English cemetery from the 1982 conflict and a museum covering the conflict and the local way of life. Nearby is the ruin of the Ajax Bay Refrigeration plant, used as the British forces base in 1982. Tours from Kingsford Valley Farm, or contact the owners, Gerald and Doreen Dixon, Wreck Point, T31115. The new road network makes it possible to head north to Port San Carlos, Elephant Beach Farm and Cape Dolphin. At Elephant Beach Farm, a 1½-hour drive from Stanley, gentoo penguins and many other bird species, sea lions, Commerson’s and Peale’s dolphins can be seen. The private property offers fishing for Falkland mullet in the tidal lagoon, and fossicking among the whale skeletons on the coast. Cape Dolphin, at the northernmost tip of East Falkland, includes three species of penguin, storm petrels, sea lions, the occasional whale and large numbers of ducks and birds on Swan Pond. Allow a full day to make the most of the cape; camping is also possible by prior arrangement. You can return to Stanley on the North Camp road via Teal Inlet and Estancia....
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