Gentoo Penguin Colony Falklands Tour with Transportation
Description
We offer shared tours (of up to 6 guests) in high-caliber, adventure -off-roading vehicles such as a Toyota Land Cruisers or Land Rover Discoverys. The tour includes off-road elements and a short walk up and down the sand dunes. It is suitable for most guests but please let us know via message if you have any fitness concerns, or specific requirements. Tours can be in English or Spanish, or as an English-speaking tour with written information cards in another language (see info on which languages we offer these in). We look forward to being a part of your Falkland Islands adventure!
Tour Options
Itinerary
A chance to see the iconic 'Lady Liz' shipwreck, hearing its story and the some of the maritime history of the islands. A chance to stop for some amazing photos.
Find out how far you are from your home country and the rest of the world! Learn about the islands' unique location and geography. Another 'must-see' stop on the tour!
We travel past 'FIGAS' the Islands' iconic air taxi service and the former mine fields from the 1982 conflict with Argentina to discover the snow-like sandy dunes of Yorke Bay. We visit this stunning Gentoo Penguin Colony to see these beautiful animals in their natural habits. Watch them fish, feed and dive, as we learn together some key facts about these amazing animals. An unforgettable, Falklands highlight.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We usually collect and drop back at the point of the origin of the tour, i.e from the Jetty centre (Port area) where the transfer boats arrive, but we can offer (for no extra charge) to arrange for you to be dropped off at a location of your choosing in Stanley (i.e the Museum, Malvina House Hotel, or the Falklands Beer works). For Bespoke tours, (or tours for non-cruise passengers) we can offer pick ups and drop off at a location of your choosing, i.e anywhere on East Falkland; Mount Pleasant Airport, Lookout Lodge or the Waterfront Hotel.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(26)
Excellent tour with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. Thoroughly recommended.
The tour is priced reasonably but we felt the tour operator is rushing during the tour we were 4 total and he added 2 more who were not in our group and he followed with them most of the time during walking tours not waiting for us we literally running to be with him and follow what he was saying which is hard as the terrain is sandy / rocky and slippery . We wish we had more friendly guide
Hi, Thank you for the review and feedback. We are glad that you found the tour to be a good price, although we are sorry that it didn't meet expectations in other aspects. Our tours are shared 4x4 vehicles and so, although we do keep groups together, it is more than likely that you will be placed with other groups/guests up to the capacity of 6 people per tour. We do allow guests to purchase tickets on the day or reschedule to a different tour time than they were allocated, if we have the ability to facilitate this as where possible we fill vehicles to capacity. This is accounted for in the price being much less than our private tours and we do try to make this explicit, so our apologies if that wasn't very clear. Although we do have to keep to a schedule, our guides are usually known for being friendly and so I am sorry if this wasn't felt to be the case. We have spoken to the guide who explained that he struggled to keep the party together at the colony and was concerned that a member of your group who went on ahead would get lost if the rest didn't try to catch up with him - hopefully that goes some way to explain why it came across as rushed. He said he realised that you were disappointed to be on a shared tour and tried to make up for the disappointment by ensuring that your group could be dropped at a desired location at the end of the tour, which is something that we usually are not always able to offer to are shared tours due to time constraints. We've taken your feedback on board and really hope that you enjoyed the rest of your time visiting the islands.
We had a lovely time seeing the penguins and got a lovely little bit of history of the islands! We enjoyed the beach and were thankful for gorgeous weather!
We were very happy with the tour guide. He took us to a number of areas where we saw different penguins. He had a very good knowledge of the Island and I would strongly recommend this tour.
Highly personable tour which gives a great insight into island living as well as the nature. Simon accompanied us to guide us and although on a timetable there was no sense of rush. Thoroughly enjoyable perhaps go in early afternoon to see more penguins than in morning.
We had a most wonderful day on our private tour with the amazing Ailsa from Estancia Excursions. She is a very experienced driver and we were most comfortable travelling in her 4x4 with her. We expressed a wish to visit Goose Green and Darwin in particular as friends of ours who were there in 1982 often spoke of their time there.Ailsa explained the whole journey would include some off road travel, but we were quite happy to be in her capable hands.Ailsa was an extremely interesting guide and pointed out a number of significant memorials and buildings which related back to the conflict. She took us to see the Argentinian cemetery and it was very nicely maintained and listed all the names of those Argentinians who had died in the war. Without a doubt, it was a moving experience,thinking of all the lives lost during the conflict. We headed to Darwin and saw the house our friends had lived in prior to war breaking out, stopped off for a drink in a lovely cafe, and then headed off to see Gentoo penguins at I think Newhaven. There was so much to hear from Ailsa and points of interest to watch out for, my memory is poor and you must forgive me if some details are incorrect. However I am sure if you book a tour with Estancia Excursions your guide will be equally informative and make sure your visit is as awesome as ours was. The Gentoo penguins were such delightful creatures as we observed them through the windows of the vehicle, and we noted several hopping off toward the sea, and several making their way back to the gathering near to where we were. Quite a few were resting on their fronts whilst most stood observing the surroundings and us munching on our delicious packed lunched provided by Estancia. It was a real treat to have seen the Gentoos and we were very fortunate that the Captain of the cruise ship Borealis allowed the tender boats on the sea as it was quite rough, but he would be well aware that the guests on board were all hoping the weather would be kind and we would tread on Falklands soil! We knew it was time to be heading back and reluctantly agreed with our guide that we should be on our way. There was little traffic on the gritted road as we returned and whenever Ailsa drove on the open landscape to take us to see various memorials to fallen soldiers, she drove skilfully at all times. When we got back to Stanley she drove us around part of the town when she pointed out several buildings which replaced some damaged in the war, and the school where children boarded because they couldn’t easily make it back home to the outlaying farms where they lived.She also told us that the sheep we had seen on the trip provided the wonderful soft wool which was an important source of commercial trade and also used in the making of many of the woollen products found in the local shops. I cannot tell you how important this visit was for us, but I never imagined we could have had such a knowledgable guide in Ailsa from Estancia Excursions, who truly made our visit amazing,so thank you Ailsa, you are a star.
Great experience, we were with 2 other passengers in a spacious Range Rover. Simon was a fantastic tour guide, explained so much along the way and spent another half hour with us to tour us around to the other side of Stanley which was out of the scope of the tour Thanks so much Simon!
Our guide was Simon. He was so knowledgeable, professional and very helpful. It was an excellent experience with him walking to the colony of penguins! His knowledge about these awesome creatures was great, as well as the history of Falkland Islands and his great love and loyalty to United Kingdom! We loved it!
A visit to a Gentou penguin colony in a small group (6) with a knowledgeable friendly guide. The transportation was comfortable and the length of the tour was just right. I recommend Simon’s Tours
Thank you so much for the fabulous review and feedback, we are really glad you enjoyed your visit!
Because it was a small group tour it felt more personalized. Simon was a great tour guide very knowledgeable, easy going and accommodating. Short tour compared to the others but I feel we still covered alot. Loved seeing the penguins!
Thank you for the lovely review and feedback! We know that short tours aren't for everyone but we agree that it can be a great and more affordable way to experience the wildlife and see a bit of the landscape before or after exploring our little city. Glad you enjoyed it!
