This tour is a combination of penguins and general interest and runs for 4-5 hours in total.
Bertha’s Beach lies on the southern coast of East Falklands and is about one hour and 15 minutes drive from Stanley. The initial section of the route is over a tarmac/gravel road which passes close to the International Airport and Military Base, before turning off and picking up an interesting off-road route for a 15-20 minutes drive over grass track terrain.
Bertha’s Beach is named after the Norwegian ship ‘Bertha’ aniron barque of 500 tons, which was wrecked there in 1892. It’s cargo of cedar wood was washed ashore and some of the logs can still be seen today lying on the beach and greens.
It is the home of a large colony of Gentoo penguins who have the freedom of a beautiful long white sand beach. The odd King penguin is known to visit as well, but this is not guaranteed.
Such is the isolation of this extraordinary location, that it is possible to follow the penguins from their colonies as they head into the ocean, and then photograph them as they return. The photographic opportunities are immense.
Complimentary tea/coffee/biscuits are provided during the stopover which will be about one and half hours.
We then drive back towards Stanley, stopping to view the unique ‘rivers of stone’ (large boulder formations) before heading 4 miles east of the town to see the Magellanic penguins at Gypsy Cove. This species burrow deeply into the turf to make their nests and can often be seen sitting outside of their ‘burrows’ on sunny days. A pathway provides an easy walking route around the beautiful little Cove.
