January 1st 2008
After partying late into this morning, neither of us wanted to wake up, but we did. Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands (an overseas territory of Britain) was our next stop; home of world famous sheep wool and mutton (delicious sheep meat for those of you unaware).
Falkland Islands, originally discovered by the Spanish (where have they not been?), then taken by the French, then handed over to the British, then forcefully taken by Argentina (at the height of minimalistic British armed presence), and subsequently reclaimed by the British again, is a charming place with only about 1500 people, of which 500 are armed personnel. Our tour guide, a humorous old British chap with a long wispy beard, tells us all about the war of 1982 while we pass acres of minefields and burnt out wrecks of Argentinean Chinook helicopters. Yes, there are still minefields in the Falklands. Why? Well because mines are generally difficult to remove under any circumstances and the nature of the land here (peat and rock) make it difficult to remove. All the minefields have been carefully documented by the authorities and fenced off. Phil (our tour guide) tells us that there are occasions when one of the many sheep or cows stray into these fields sometimes and end up with three legs, at which point the animal has to be shot and left there. It is too dangerous to go in there and remove the animal without facing casualties.
We travelled an hour north of Stanley by bus along dusty roads (because the government sees no need to pave these roads) to arrive at the Long Island farm run by a British family. We disembark the bus, dust ourselves and hear barking and bleating in the distance. We are invited into their house and are welcomed with a hot cup of English tea and homemade cookies and tarts. I don’t pay any attention to that as my eyes are immediately drawn to several dogs in the sheep pen that resemble Luka (our dog) to the “T”. These dogs are Border Collies, meant for the farm, and used for sheep herding. The dogs give us a riveting display of their herding skills and Neha and I fondly recall how Luka tends to herd us when we take him out for walks. We both miss him very much.
After playing with the farm dogs for a bit, we head over to the peat bogs close to the farm where we are given the opportunity to shovel peat straight out of the ground in blocks used for fuel. Jim (one of the farm hands) shows us how to dig peat. He apparently holds the record at 6 tons in one day. Neha does a very good job of honing her peat extracting skills and shows of for the camera to several people. My mind is still on the dogs. After this terrific display of peat extraction by Neha, we head over to the sheep shearing house at the east end of the farm and Jim explains to us the process of sheep shearing and how the wool market has been declining steadily over the years due to the advent of newer fabrics and materials. Farming and agriculture is not an option for them due to the nature of the land here as vegetation is unable to grow in the rocky soil. Therefore they have to rely mainly on mutton and wool exports with tourism becoming a fast growing industry. Jim proceeds to crank up the shear motor then grabs one of the sheep in the holding pens before gently proceeding to shear wool off every inch of its body. The sheep, which was surprisingly obedient, looks like a little naked lamb after it has been sheared. I have a great movie of the entire shearing process. Apparently the wool is devalued if it is not sheared in one continuous piece, but Pat does an excellent job.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with the horses and dogs on the farm and conversing with the family. The Falklands is an unusual place to settle down. Jim explains how they are looking at alternative income sources such as licensing fishing vessels within the Falklands fishing boundaries, providing their land to alternative energy researchers for wind farms and the very good prospect of oil wells close their territories. They explain to us that the land is useless because of its peri-glacial features. Apparently during the formation of this land, conditions were perfect for glacier formations, but due to its location, they were just outside the climate zone and instead of snow and ice forming like they should for glaciers, the waters eroded the land out from lack of frozen accumulation and exposed all the sub-surface rocks. This resulted in what we saw today – rivers of rocks alongside the road and down the mountain sides. They were spectacular scenes – where they should have been water (or ice), there was rocks – tons of them. These rocks can’t even be used for building or cleared because they are one of the hardest materials on the earth. Splitting them into blocks is close to impossible.
We bid goodbye to the family at the Long Island farm at around 4pm and head back to Stanley to board the ship. Back at Stanley, we realize that there is still plenty of time left to peruse through downtown. Neha gets a “friendly” (read frisky) New Years greeting from one of the local British guys after he sees me wearing a Manchester United shirt (he was an Aston Villa fan) at the local pub. The local fish and chips is nothing to write home about, but we were starving. It is now time to get back to the ship and we get on the last tender boat.
Not a bad day to start the New Year off with.
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