There's not much living on the Falkland Islands.
Penguins easily out-populate the 3,400 inhabitants. Almost 1,000 humans perished here during the UK-Argentina Falklands War 43 years ago. Three were civilians.
The Islands are two large rocks about 300 miles east of Argentina covered with low-lying shrubs, grass and mud. What little color there is comes from tiny red berries called Diddle Dee berries. Birds eat them. Humans eat them when they are turned into jam on a scone with whipped cream.
Most of the information, above and below, comes from Robin, a tall 73-year-old third generation "Kelper" of British decent. Here's a few things he told us:
*Life changed on the Islands as a result of the two-month war. Everybody knew each other and trusted each other before the war. That's very different now.
*The population is wealthy largely because of fishing. Tourism and sheep and cattle ranching help. There are no taxes.
*The government, a British territory, is wealthy ever since it started collecting for fishing licenses in the early '90s.
*Education is on par with UK standards but high school graduates have no universities to attend. They ship out to the UK to further their educations. Tuition and travel are picked up by the government.
*Healthcare is good to a degree. Citizens in need of serious medical assistance are flown to the UK or Santiago, Chile at government cost.
*There's one military airport with commercial flights from the UK on Mondays and Thursdays. A flight from Santiago arrives every Saturday. Notice that Argentina is not involved.
*Confirmation of flight and hotel bookings are announced on public radio.
*Weather is unpredictable and severe. Frequently winds howl at 100 mph.
Traveling anywhere off the one main road out of capital city Port Stanley means being in 4x4s going up and down through ruts, hills, mud puddles and Diddle Dee Berry bushes. It's a fun roller coaster ride at first, but after a half hour you've had enough. Some fellow cruisers took these rodeo rides for 2.5 hours each way.
So in my view only a penguin could enjoy living here and they do from November to March. There are three types of penguins here: the King and Rockhoppers, which I didn't see, and the Gentoo, which I did. Gentoos are the fastest swimming penguins reaching 22 mph.
We saw about 100 Gentoos where we first arrived. They were mostly standing together facing into the wind waiting for their parents to come and feed them. They were all born about three months earlier and they were as big as their parents, who were about 300 yards away on a beach. Most seemed sedentary. We saw only a few braving the harsh waves attempting to get food for themselves and the younguns.
Seeing penguins is always a joy. But I left the Falklands wondering why so many died here 43 years ago. I guess it was for the power to collect fees for fishing licenses.