Stanley was one of our favorite ports. Being part of the British Commonwealth, it was very easy to navigate around, besides it’s a very small town with only about 2,400 people. The main industries are sheep, agriculture and fishing. They are very welcoming to tourists, which are becoming a more important part of their economy. We did a walking tour with an English woman who came here 18 months ago with her husband who took the job as the government planner. He is the only planner for everything from placing plaques in parks to locating oil rigs, so it’s a very interesting job for him. They have two young boys and came on a two year contract with an option to renew for another two years, which they plan to do. After that, they’d have to apply for permanent residence. She loves it here and I can see why. Although the weather isn’t the best, it’s safe, clean and there’s a real sense of community and pride. One thing I wouldn’t like is that there are still land mines here from the 1982 “conflict” when Argentina invaded and the British beat them back. They know where the land mines are, so the areas are well marked, but they are hard to find individually so removal is a hard process. We didn’t see penguins here, but we did see a sea lion “playing” with an octopus in the bay, much like a cat plays with a mouse.
I didn’t have cell service here, although I did see someone on a cell phone. Everyone has broadband internet, apparently very expensive as you’d expect. The one bank has no ATM and closes at 3:00 pm every day, not open on weekends. And they close for 2 weeks at Christmas, so you’d better plan ahead or you end up with IOUs at the local stores, which apparently is not a problem.
Next up is sailing around Cape Horn.
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