If you let your eyes wander over a map of South America down to the southern-most tip, off to the east, a small group of islands appears in the South Atlantic. They almost look as if someone has smudged a drop of ink. These are the Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas), some of the most remote real estate in the world where the animals reign supreme and humans are the interlopers.

We spend three weeks in the Falklands, traveling to eight islands of the over 700, most of which are uninhabited. Covering an area of over 4,700 square miles, there are less than 3,000 inhabitants, most living in the capital, Stanley, with fewer than 200 scattered over the rest of the archipelago in what is known locally as “camp,” from the Spanish “campo.”

About 3,000 UK Military personnel are stationed at Mt. Pleasant, the UK Military base on the islands, a legacy of the 10-week conflict fought with Argentina in 1982.

“What could you possibly DO down there for three weeks?” I hear you ask.  In one word — WILDLIFE! Huge concentrations of four penguin species — Kings, Gentoos, Magellanics and Rockhoppers, plus a scattering of Macaronis inhabit the islands as do enormous colonies of seabirds — albatross, cormorants; large numbers of birds of prey including  petrels, two species of caracaras, hawks; marine mammals — dolphins, sea lions, elephant seals– not to mention the dozens of other species. And in most cases, you will be no more than a few feet away from them with not a single person in sight.

For a photographer or videographer, it is paradise! You really have to work hard to get here and, once arrived, you are committed to staying at least a week, although this is nowhere near enough time to see everything. Apart from the possibility of stepping on shore for a few hours from a cruise ship on its way to or from the Antarctic, there are only three flights a week. The UK Ministry of Defense has two flight a week, each lasting 20-hours, with a stop on Ascension Island. There are numerous restrictions on these flights. The other is via Santiago, Chile, on LATAM, through Punta Arenas, Chile, to Mt. Pleasant, as the international airport is known.

The only way to get around the islands is on one of the bright red, eight-passenger planes run by the Falkland Islands Government Air Service or FIGAS. Multiple flights a day carry passengers, mail, food, and supplies from Stanley to the outer islands where the planes land on grass strips after the sheep have been chased off.

In our three weeks, we visit Darwin, Volunteer Point, and Stanley on East Falklands Island, Pebble Island, Carcass Island, West Point Island, Saunders Island, Weddell Island, Sea Lion Island and Bleaker Island, staying in private homes, cottages and a container.

Once you reach the islands (most of which are working farms) accommodations are very limited. There are no hotels, restaurants or shops. You can either have your meals as part of a full board arrangement with the island owner (all of which were excellent) or, in some cases, you can self-cater, buying your food from the owner from their limited stocks. In one place we ate baked beans, biscuits with butter and jam, and macaroni with sauce from a jar for four days.

But what an adventure! For three weeks we got up early every morning, grabbed our gear plus something to eat and went out to spend the next 10-12 hours photographing the wildlife, sitting on the beach surrounded by rockhopper penguins coming to investigate what we were doing, walking miles through tussock grass to king cormorant rookeries, photographing Commerson’s Dolphins surfing on the waves, and bouncing over the peat in a Land Rover. It was the experience of a lifetime and we would return in a heartbeat.

A full gallery of images can be found at Allegria Photos.

IF YOU GO

The best time to travel to the Falkland Islands is between October and April when the temperatures are warmer, and the islands become home to numerous migratory species returning to breed. Given the weather (you could experience all four seasons in a matter of hours) and the incessant wind, layers of waterproof clothing are essential as are hiking boots, sunscreen and a hat that won’t blow away. A reusable water bottle is essential as there is no drinking water outside the settlements. LATAM has one flight a week every Saturday from Santiago to Mt. Pleasant and return. There are also flights from the RAF airbase at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Military of Defense aircraft. For more information contact Falkland Islands Government London Office at travel@falklands.gov.fk, tel +44-207-222-2254. The Falkland Islands Travel Office arranged our travel. Our coordinator, Sue, did a stellar job of getting us around without a single hitch.

PHOTOGRAPHIC TIP There are significant weight restrictions on the FIGAS aircraft which could limit the amount of gear you take unless you are prepared to pay excess charges and run the risk that your bag might arrive at a different time. We had four camera bodies and an array of lenses. In the end, we used our 14-24mm, 70-200mm, 80-400mm and 50-500mm lenses the most as well as our iPhones. There are also excellent video opportunities.  You will need a tripod or beanbag, rain covers for your cameras and your backpack; filters, cleaning cloths and a small repair kit with a tiny screwdriver to tighten the screws on the lenses that are sometimes bounced loose driving through the “bush”. Take lots of memory cards unless you take a laptop and backup drives to download every day. A thin plastic ground cloth will come in handy if you want to lie down to photograph amidst the penguins. The ground is covered in guano.

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