Page:The Future of the Falkland Islands and Its People.pdf/6



Like many human undertakings, the creation of this publication started by one first step, in this case by Robert Rowlands, who kindly invited me to visit his country and give a public lecture in Stanley. And I did it, accompanied by my younger daughter Nusha, on our way back from Antarctica in early March 2003. We spent a week with Robert, enjoying the hospitality of his home, meeting people and seeing both the town and Camp.

Having left Nusha largely to her separate teenage agenda shared with Robert’s own daughter Jane and their friends, I ventured out a bit of exploration, driving and trekking in all directions of the Stanley area between Tussac Point and Mount Tumbledown. I had been looking forward to seeing some of the natural wonders encountered, like the local ‘stone runs’, so similar to the ‘stone rivers’ of Mount Vitosha on the outskirts of my native Sofia. Others were less expected, such as the giant rubber-sheet shaped kelp I came across at Hookers Point, or the shrubby Antarctic lichens found on the rocky high ground near Navy Point – a species familiar from the vicinity of the Bulgarian base on Livingston Island.

Equally enjoyable was my one-day tour of East Falkland, first driving west to Darwin and Goose Green, then Robert masterly navigating trails and slopes north to San Carlos Settlement and Port San Carlos, eventually turning back east towards Teal Inlet, Estancia and Stanley, with a brief pause to fix one of our jeep wheels after the unforgettable experience of watching it pass by even as we were speeding away from New House of Glamis.

A lot of my time was devoted to Stanley itself, strolling the streets past neat gardens and picturesque tin-clad houses, with occasional old brickwork here and there, and newer residential areas dominated by wooden Scandinavian and Scottish housing; or gazing at emblematic buildings such as the Christ Church Cathedral, the Falkland Islands Company premises and the state of the art Community School; or touring the Stanley Museum to view antiques and artifacts recreating life from early pioneer days to modern times; or wandering around the Stanley cemetery amidst so much accumulated history of present and long-gone Falklands families; or having a drink at the private Falkland Club with its bar on this occasion tended by Councillor Mike Summers himself.

When at home I used to discuss with my host each and every aspect of past, present and future Falklands life, poring over plenty of maps,