MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands in The New York Times list of Places to Visit

The piece is illustrated with a photo of Southern Rockhopper penguins on the cliffs of Saunders Island in the Falklands

On 9 January, The New York Times published a multimedia report with a list of 52 Places to visit in the world. In position 23 figures the Falkland Islands with the following description, emphasizing, “five kinds of penguins easier to reach”. The report is credited to Nell McShane Wulfhart.

The Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas), far off the coast of Argentina, offer an astonishing variety of wildlife that includes five kinds of penguins, hundreds of bird species, seals, sea lions and whales, as well as remote natural beauty that travelers often have to themselves: the human population is just 2,563.

Two new local touring companies are increasing accessibility to the riches of the islands, the sovereignty of which is in dispute between Argentina and Britain (hence the two names).

Falklands Outdoors opened in November 2018 and offers mountain climbing, foraging, hiking and sea kayaking expeditions to beaches and penguin colonies that can’t be reached by road

In January Falklands Helicopter Services will start scenic flights to Volunteer Point (home to an enormous King Penguin colony), and other isolated spots.

While there’s currently just a single weekly commercial flight in and out of the Falklands, the first new route to the Islands from South America in more than 20 years is being planned: LATAM is expected to begin weekly flights to the islands from Brazil by late 2019.