Gixer

Sparrow Cove is a great trip, its about 20mins by launch boat from Stanley, you usually stop at Kidney cove then go by 4 x 4 to Sparrow cove. You will see a few king penguins, Jackasses, Gentoo's but the highlight of this trip is that you will get to see Rockhopper penguins. They are not usually found on the large main Islands of the Falklands, you usually need to travel out to one of the small offshore Islands such as sealion. As the trip is under 3 hours you will also have plenty of time to expolre around town.

There are some lovely gift shops around town, you can buy all sorts of penguin keepsakes, magnets, keyrings, t-shirts etc, they have great Fleece jackets in the harbour view gift shop.

Falkland wool is some of the finest in the world, and the hand knitted pieces are beautiful, hats, scraves, sweaters and so on, they are not cheap, but they are timless, elegant and exceptional quality pieces.

Food stuffs, well we dont really have any packaged items that you could take away with you, if you have lunch in town then lamb casserole or squid are local specialities, along with teaberry scones or biscuits. Diddle dee preserve is sold in the gift shops in small pots and that always makes a nice and unusual gift for friends or family.

The pink shop has gorgeous prints of local scenes around Stanley and wildlife, The Pod gift shop has local made pottery items, cant really think of anything else off the top of my head, but for such a small place there are some neat little stores to browse around in.

Gixer,

How does seeing the penguins at Gypsy Cove compare to those at Volunteer Point? Are there any tours from the ships to Volunteer Point? What is the cost? Is Gypsy Cove a decent alternative?

Our ship will be there (weather permitting) on 4 Dec, from 8am to 6pm, so that may be too tight on time to go to Volunteer Point. Plus, I'd like some time in Stanley, too. (I like that it's got a hop-on, hop-off bus!)

You cant really compare the two, they are very different experiences, when you go to Volounteer point you really are out in the wilderness, and king penguins are most peoples favourite, when people picture penguins they tend to think of kings. It is a privilege to be able to see them in the wild and in their natural enviroment, a real ''one off'' Tours are available from town either by 4 x 4 or sometimes by boat if the seas are not to rough. This excursion doesnt come cheap however, your looking at probably $100 per person. This trip is really for real wildlife enthusiasts or photographers.

However that doesnt discredit Gypsy cove, its on a beautiful penninsular, Dolphins swimming in the bay, white sand, vast areas of land bright red from all the Diddle dee berries. Meg penguins or Jackasses as we tend to call them are comedians, they are smaller but just as noisy and not shy of people, and its very easy to walk along a purpose built path to the best viewing points. It doesnt feel as ''wild'' as Volounteer, as your only a few minutes from town, but for your first penguin encounter its still very special, and it will still take your breath away to see them in their natural enviroment. We do have a King Penguin who visits Gypsy cove each summer, so hopefully he will be there when you visit!

I think if your only hear for a short time, then a look around town and a visit to Gypsy cove would suit most people.

Im not sure if Im allowed to post pictures in this forum? If I am able too then I could post some photos of Gypsy cove and volounteer so you can see the differences?

Hi

East Falkland is a big place, to drive from North Arm which ironically is in the south of the Island to Cape Dolphin in the north would take hours. Stanley itself is a very small town, and you wouldnt really need a taxi to get around it, everything is pretty much located along Ross rd which runs along the sea front. If your interested in going out to Gypsy cove to see the penguins then that is a 10min taxi ride away, You could also take a taxi out to Fitzroy to the war memorial which is about 20mins away.

If you have walking difficulties then you could hire a taxi for maybe 2 hours to take you on a private tour, the will take you to see the penguins, shipwrecks, stop at the cathedral & museam, goverment house etc for you to take photos. (taxi's will be waiting at the jetty centre or just wave at one to stop it as it drives by) There is also a double decker bus that runs through town on cruise days taking visitors to all the places of interest around the town and that's just a few $ each you just wave it down and hop on as it comes past. The bus doesnt go out to see the penguins though or any of the battlefield sites.

If your Ok with walking around the small town then when you arrive at the Jetty center there are always minibus taxi's waiting with signs in the window that say ''Penguins $10 per person'' they fill the bus up, go to Gypsy cove, come back, reload with the next lot of visitors so thay are running consistently all day.

US dollars are accepted everywhere, there is no need to change money, you can pay for everything with them from taxi's, lunch in one of the restraunts in town or any of the local shops.

Feb is a great time to visit, we had great weather in Feb this year, warm enough to spend the day at the beach and our kids even went swimming in the sea. The penguin chicks are all out of their burrows by then too and they have no fear of people at all, you will get some great photos!

Hope this helps! :)

I guess it would be a visit to Volounteer point to see the King penguin colony, a remarkable sight. The penguins are all very curious and will often come and peck at your boots :D It takes you breath away to see these animals in the wild, especially when they have their fluffy chicks! Just sitting and watching them will change your perspective of these creatures, they are very aggresive with one another, very noisy and quite smelly too. They are very funny though and no matter how many times I see them they still make me laugh. Its a good 3 hour drive across bumpy terrain from Stanley but the trip is so worth it, the scenery along the way is beautiful, miles and miles of nothingness.

If your lucky you will see seals and dolphins playing in the surf too.

I would be happy to try and answer them for you as I live in Stanley. I actually registered to cruise critic to find info about Disney cruises as we are taking the children on a trip in January, and just had a look in this forum out of curiosity!

Hope I can be of some help to those of you planning a future trip :)