The Falklands embrace some 400 islands approximately 480 miles northeast of Cape Horn.  Cold, oxygen-rich waters off Antarctica have created one of the richest communities of marine birds and wildlife in all the world.  Our itinerary will afford us access to five species of penguins, as well a huge colony of Southern Elephant Seals.  Offshore, Orcas patrol the Falkland coastlines, prospecting for penguins and seals forced to return to the sea to fish for their offspring. It's a four-hour flight to Port Stanley, population 2,000 and the largest town in the Falklands.  Over the next week we’ll visit several of these remote islands in search of penguins, cormorants, and albatrosses, as well as dolphins, seals, and sea lions.  Land birds range from extremely local and curious Striated Caracara to the endemic and confiding Cobb's Wren.  A special jaunt out to Volunteer Point will allow us to see the majestic King Penguin and a trip to Pebble Island should net us Gentoo Penguins.  Other species we're sure to see at minimum focus range include Antarctic Giant Petrels and White-tufted Grebes, Kelp Geese and Falkland Steamer-Ducks, Two-banded Plovers and Rufous-chested Dottrels, Blackish Oystercatchers and Dolphin Gulls,  Blackish Cinclodes and Austral Thrushes, and Canary-winged Finches and Long-tailed Meadowlarks.  Photographic opportunities in the Falklands are simply superb. 

Leaders: Enrique Couve & Rick Taylor

View Falkland Island & Torres del Paine National Park Photo Gallery