Falkland Island , Current mood: tired
Well , the Hoe Down in Explorers lounge was real good , afterwords we made our appearance in the Wheelhouse lounge , where the orch. cats were doing a jazz set. Sat in on a few tunes playing drums , mostly which featured Colin on the Bari sax. We also had a few different pianists with us , as well as trumpet, tenor & trombone.
Eventually played a few tunes on the trumpet , or rather took a few solos is more like it. That went pretty o.k., & I felt that I had earned the single malt scotch I drank before that set. We then sat with the wonderfull Irish couple who have been with us since Halloween. (They dance almost every song as well ) ! So I drank some Stellas , from the tap , which I always feel is unfortunate , but there it was .
It was now time to rush up to the crew bar , & check out the Brazilian group, (The drummer had been jamming with us in the wheelhouse, so they must just be starting , & he was playing like he was on fire) ! So I started playing percussion right away . The crew bar had just closed. Fortuneatly , the Brazilians had beer behind the makeshift stage , & offered me one right away. So now I am playing agogo bells , trumpet ,& eventually settled for a big medal shaker & tamborine together, & hung out by the drummer. They went full on into the whole Brazilian trip , & it was quite exhilherating ! Reminded me of the time I played the shaker with that african band in Yellowknife at the "Folk on the Rocks" fest. a number of years back. ( I was just sitting in there too , actually playing at the Cave with "The Blue Angels" , which was a band with Indio Saranjevo I was in for a summer.
So by the time I finally was relxing with the saxman in the smokers lounge & ready to call it a day , I have no idea what time it was. I finally dragged myself out of bed & onto a tender at the crack of noon . It seemed like not really the day to go penguin hunting. It was a very long tender ride , & I felt a coffee was in order. This took awhile to find. The Falkland Island is a small archipelago 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. You may remember there was a dust up there when Argentina attacked the small british forces back in 1982. There are two main islands , & 776 smaller ones. There are only 3000 people who live here , & ten times as many penguins. These islands are a paradise for bitd watchers, as there is more than 120 species of birds, half of which are residents. There are several species of penguins apparently, among them gentoo, rockhopper,king & jackass. Other birds common are upland geese,steamer ducks, oystercatchers gulls, terns, & there are some albotrosses & giant petrels nesting on some of the smaller islands. I was able to mail a significant amount of postcards from here ,which may take awhile to arrive, as apparently they go to Britain first ! I also picked up a first edition envelope from here for me & Tunies collection. It was just issued , & has six different penguin stamps on it , as well as a great shot on the envelope of some king penguins.
I'm now at sea again , of course , & still trying to get enough rest to feel somewhat whole again. Got up early this morning to try & photograph the sunrise again , & was finally succesfull after quite a wait. ( We went ANOTHER hour forward last night , so we are now SIX hours ahead of B.C. time) ! ( Now you know why I don't phone as often Ma) !