Falklands For Addicts
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The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of return RAF flights Brize Norton-Mount Pleasant, internal flights, full board accommodation, ground transport, incidental tips, and the services of the leader.
The price excludes travel insurance, optional tips to local drivers and guides, drinks and other personal expenses. *subject to availability This trip will be operated in conjunction with Limosa Holidays. |
This is the fourth different itinerary we have put on to the Falklands, again aimed at showing people who have already visited the Falkland Islands a different aspect. It is open to first timers, of course, but will have particular appeal to those we call 'veterans'. |
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The tour features the usual top wildlife sites but includes a visit to Bleaker Island, only recently opened to visitors, and Port Howard. It also goes earlier than many tours, at the peak time for Elephant Seal breeding activity.
Itinerary Please note that this itinerary may change according to flight schedules. Day 1 We take a late evening departure from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. The approximate duration of the flight is eight and a half hours to the refuelling stop at Ascension Island where there is a chance of seeing the endangered Ascension Island Frigatebird. The onward flight to Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, is seven and a half hours. Day 2 We arrive early afternoon at Mount Pleasant Airport - with luck a Typhoon jet escort will accompany us for the last hour. We drive to our hotel in Darwin where we'll be welcomed by our host Sheena Ross. Those not wishing to rest will have a chance to go out and get a first flavour of Southern Atlantic wildlife. We should see our first Upland Geese, Correndera Pipits and endemic Falklands Flightless Steamer Duck along the shore, with Southern Giant Petrel and Brown Skua out to sea. Hospitality in the Falklands is excellent and our first taste of it here will be a special treat. Overnight Darwin Days 3 - 4 We fly to Pebble Island, West Falkland. Pebble Island Hotel used to be the farm manager's house, but now caters for visitors with six twin rooms - all with en-suite facilities. The island itself is 22 miles long, and has a population of fewer than 10 people. The wildlife is quite outstanding. Freshwater pools hold both Silvery and White-tufted Grebes while wildfowl include Black-necked Swan, Silver Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail and Chiloe Wigeon. The inland ponds have occasional Flying Steamer Duck, and Snowy Sheathbills are often present while we are picnicking beside colonies of Rockhopper Penguins. These share the territory with King Cormorants and occasionally Macaroni Penguins. Gentoo Penguins nest inland here and can be seen making the long trek from the sea. In recent years there has been the odd King Penguin in attendance, making this a possible five-penguin day. We will also visit a pond on which Coscoroba Swans have been seen. The shores can hold migrant waders including White-rumped Sandpiper, while the rocks of Tamar Point have a 'haul-out' of Southern Sea Lions. The sea is always worth watching, and we will be looking for passing Black-browed Albatross, Great and Sooty Shearwaters, White-chinned Petrels and Slender-billed Prions, while Peale's and the lovely Commerson's Dolphins may also be cruising by. Two nights Pebble Island Days 5 - 7 We fly to Port Howard, West Falkland. This, the largest privately owned farm on the islands, is sheltered behind a rocky coastal ridge on the coast of Falkland Sound, on the edge of a sea inlet which can be superb for wildlife. Commerson's Dolphins are regularly seen, and the extensive mud-banks attract good numbers and variety of shore birds. The picturesque settlement makes a great place to meet a thriving Falkland Island community (with its own golf course!) and to see an excellent variety of Falklands wildlife. Three nights Port Howard Days 8 - 9 We fly to Bleaker Island the following morning for a two-night stay. Bleaker has two self-catering bungalows which were built a couple of years ago to extremely high standards. They are owned by Mike Rendall, who regular visitors will remember as owner of the Malvina Hotel in which he still has an interest. The Malvina will provide our main meals which we will reheat. Bleaker is a low, flat island we have flown over on our way back from Sea Lion on previous trips. It has a good Gentoo Penguin colony - on 'Penguin Hill' of course - several Magellanic Penguin and King Cormorant colonies, a large pond and miles of wonderful walks. We will have use of a Land Rover for this visit. Its eastern end is accessible and a good site for sea-watching. Big Pond attracts interesting waterbirds including Silvery Grebe - White-winged Coots were also present on our last visit - the first breeding record for the Falklands! Two nights Bleaker Island Days 10 - 11 We fly to Sea Lion Island, the most southerly inhabited island of the archipelago, just five miles long by one and a half miles wide, with a resident population of five. Sea Lion has the only purpose-built lodge on the Falkland Islands with all rooms en-suite. We will be greeted with 'smoko' - tea and cakes in the lounge - no doubt. Just five minutes walk away is a colony of breeding Southern Elephant Seals. They sometimes come even closer - the lodge has a picture of one at the entrance trying to get in! The huge 'beachmaster' males will be battling for territory at this time - arguably one of the world's great wildlife spectacles. Southern Sea Lions also breed here, but their peak breeding time is a little later. During our stay here we will be visiting Gentoo and Rockhopper Penguin colonies, with their ever-present Blackish Cinclodes (known as 'Tussac-birds' locally), Snowy Sheathbills and Brown Skuas. Land birds include the endemic Cobb's Wren and we will do a walk after dinner to look for Short-eared Owls, listen to drumming South American Snipe (a distinctly different sound to the display of European Snipe) and do some star-gazing. Offshore cetaceans may include Orca, seen from the lounge and beaches on many previous visits. On the land, one of the local specialities is Striated Caracara, a raptor which is now virtually restricted to the Falkland Islands having been almost wiped out of South America. 'Johnny Rooks' as they are called locally, can be embarrassingly tame despite their global rarity. Mind your sandwiches and gloves here - both have been stolen by curious Striated Caracaras on previous tours. Southern Crested Caracara can also be found here with Rufous-chested Dotterel abundant on the 'diddledee' moorland. Two nights Sea Lion Island Lodge Days 12 - 13 We fly back to Stanley and check into our hotel with an afternoon boat trip to Kidney Island on which we 'chum' for seabirds. We hope to attract some of the South Atlantic seabirds, especially shearwaters and petrels including, with luck, Wilson's Storm Petrel, which are hard to see from the shore. In the past we've had impressive gatherings of over a hundred Black-browed Albatross close in to the boat, and have recorded Royal or Wandering Albatross on six of our eight pelagic boat trips. We enjoyed a brief visit from two Northern Giant Petrels, our first in the Falklands, in 2008. On the following day we will visit Dolphin Point. Only recently made accessible to visitors by the completion of a road, Dolphin Point is home to large colonies of Rockhopper Penguins, Southern Fur Seals and numerous other species. At this time of year there is a good chance of seeing dolphins and possibly the great whales from the point. Two nights Stanley Day 14 Early departure from Stanley to Mount Pleasant Airport to catch the mid-morning flight to UK, with a refuelling stop at Ascension Island, and arriving back at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire early on Day 15. Accommodation: We stay in comfortable lodges and hotels. En-suite facilities are available throughout, with the exception of one or two rooms at Darwin. The main exception is on Bleaker Island on the 'Veteran's Tour' where we stay in self-catering bungalows and rooms are not en suite. We can offer a very limited number of single rooms, but these may not be available throughout. Leaders: Tim Earl and local guides Numbers: Max. 8 clients |
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