Category: Patagonia

We get back: the first step is to take the plane at Mount Pleasant, almost 2 hours in the queue to carry out the “formalities” including the payment of the “tourist” tax at the exit. The few flights – one or two commercial flights and a military one – can justify the slowness? After the stopover in Punta Arenas, where the Chileans are much less zealous than in Santiago, but they know that everyone comes from the Falklands where the rules are stricter, we continue northwards … In the meantime we learn that the new group has been blocked in Chile, no Italians are accepted by the Falklands authorities. And we arrive in Santiago where we move as a group, with some apprehension for the demonstrations of which we see no trace, to the hotel where we have dinner and celebrate the end of the trip with a last Pisco sour (maybe the best).

The first flight took us from Punta Arenas (Chile) to Mount Pleasant (Falklands), the military base built by the UK after the war with Argentina, which we flew over briefly… At Mount Pleasant we left the Airbus A320 for two Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander twin-engined aircraft of about 8 seats each which took us to Port Howard. After settling into the lodge, we visit the tiny museum about the war with Argentina. Among the exhibits I discover a Swiss-made mortar and a cartography manual, two objects that particularly touch me. Port Howard is the main “village” on West Island, the second largest island in the Falklands. It has 20-25 inhabitants and 40,000 sheep, who can count on a debauchery that is open three times a week for one hour!