Lauren & Jeremy

Here we are standing in front of the four by four that will take us over to Volunteer Point to see some more penguins. We are in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands today. It actually consists of 2 islands, which are owned by the British.

(For the not so savvy computer users, you can click any of the images to make them larger…Enjoy!)

Our ride was 2 1/2 hours long…about 1 1/2 hours of it being across NO ROAD. It was extremely bumpy and not at all enjoyable! We were in a caravan of about 6 vehicles. Along the way we saw NOTHING (other than stars every time our heads hit the roof). Literally what you see in this picture is all you see for miles. It was crazy desolate, not even a tree! …..Anyway, we got a little history lesson along the way and learned a little about how Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 and they were at war for about 2 months. How exciting! We were hoping that the payoff would be worth the ride……

…and it was! These are King Penguins….one of the larger types of penguins. They were so beautiful. More impressive looking then the Magellenic penguins, but less curious and social it seemed.

Here I am with one…not sure what I was doing, but he seems to be a bit scared.

It smelled similar to the other rookery which really takes a little while to get used to. Good thing they’re so pretty!

I told Jeremy he should have worn his tux to fit in a little better….

This is one of the babies…I am not sure exactly when they hatched but they are starting to lose this fur coating so I think they are a bit older. There were some that only had half a coat left…more like a shawl 🙂

This mama seems to be telling the baby to watch out for PETA members throwing paint…

This one wasn’t dead, just napping. Although we did see quite a few that had died. It wasn’t pretty.

They really are the most adorable animals…

Ah, here’s the one in the shawl….so glad Jeremy put this picture in! He’s almost all growns up!

This one appears to be getting ready to hit the other on the tush!

Yes, that is a sheep! Can you believe 2 of the cutest creatures in the same shot!

This guy just seems like the king of all kings!

Just two dudes out for a walk on a summer day!

I don’t know about you, but this seems like an award winner to me! Guess lugging that camera around paid off!

This is another type of penguin that was also at the same spot. These are Gentoo penguins. This is (obviously) a baby and her mama. These chicks seem a bit younger than the King penguin babies.

The mama goes out to find food and then regurgitates it for her chick. YUM!

He is saying hello to you all!

Just waddling along…..

He’s deep in thought…

This one looks like Ralphie from the back, don’t you think?

They are pretty protective of their young, we saw many scuffles!

How cute!!?? I really wanted to take one home but didn’t think I could clear customs. Not sure we can top this day, but if we can it will certainly be in Antarctica. Here we come!

See you in Antarctica! Happy New Year!