Volunteer Point
We had chosen to fly to the Falklands with the RAF - an expensive but very direct option flying out of Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The flight was delayed so when we staggered off the plane after 20 hours flying at 8pm we didn’t hold out much hope of getting to our first night’s accommodation at Volunteer Point which is 3 hours drive from the airport, much of it off-road and requiring 4x4 driving skills. We were amazed to find the totally wonderful Derek Pettersson waiting for us and he drove us through the darkness to the small wardens’ cottage that he and Trudi run. We hit our beds quickly at around 11.30pm, knowing that the alarm would go off again at 3.30 am.
Dawn quickly demonstrated why Volunteer Point has become so famous amongst wildlife photographers as one of the best places in the world to photograph penguins. The light on the beach was sensational as groups of magellanic, gentoo and king penguins ran in and out of the water in golden light.
As the golden light faded mist arrived and the colour palette changed through browns to pinks, purples and blues.
We devoured an amazing cooked breakfast a few hours later then headed out again - sometimes on the beach (where strong winds whipped the sand up into savage blasts battering the birds and all of our gear - rather worrying given that this was just the first day of a long trip); sometimes photographing around the colonies of penguins.
Of course there was other wildlife to be found apart from penguins such as Flightless Steamer Ducks, Upland Geese, Magellanic Oystercatchers and Kelp Gulls.