Travel Planning
When planning your trip, you must always be aware that the Falkland Islands are only a small microcosm in the middle of the South Atlantic where life runs at a much slower pace as all types of communication take place via satellite .
Thus you need to have patience concerning the exchange and you may have to wait a long time for answers or requests, some might not be answered at all.
This can be demotivating at times or at least come across as very unusual.
But as soon as you know the location, you will understand how life works there.
The Falkland Islands Tourist Board works very effectively and with a lot of professional competence to inform interested travelers and to clarify essential questions.
It has published many brochures and runs a very good website that is a helpful basis for your planning.
But keep in mind that the tourist office is NOT a travel agency.
For a travel package that includes flights, accommodation, mobility and sightseeing tours, you should contact one of the two travel agencies.
These are: International Tours & Travel or Falkland Islands Holidays
With a little meticulousness and the necessary assertiveness, you can of course also design your own vacation package.
For this purpose you might use the following guidelines:
Thus you need to have patience concerning the exchange and you may have to wait a long time for answers or requests, some might not be answered at all.
This can be demotivating at times or at least come across as very unusual.
But as soon as you know the location, you will understand how life works there.
The Falkland Islands Tourist Board works very effectively and with a lot of professional competence to inform interested travelers and to clarify essential questions.
It has published many brochures and runs a very good website that is a helpful basis for your planning.
But keep in mind that the tourist office is NOT a travel agency.
For a travel package that includes flights, accommodation, mobility and sightseeing tours, you should contact one of the two travel agencies.
These are: International Tours & Travel or Falkland Islands Holidays
With a little meticulousness and the necessary assertiveness, you can of course also design your own vacation package.
For this purpose you might use the following guidelines:
How to get there
As an individual traveler, your only means of entering the Falkland Islands is by plane, and there are merely two options for this flight:
Either you book with the Chilean airline LATAM from the South American continent to Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands.
Or you choose the so-called "airbridge“. This is a regular, direct flight run by the Royal Air Force with an Airbus A330 leaving from the Brize Norton military base in England (with only a short stopover to refuel and crew change).
The contact person for a booking on these flights is the Falkland Islands Government Office.
Either you book with the Chilean airline LATAM from the South American continent to Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands.
Or you choose the so-called "airbridge“. This is a regular, direct flight run by the Royal Air Force with an Airbus A330 leaving from the Brize Norton military base in England (with only a short stopover to refuel and crew change).
The contact person for a booking on these flights is the Falkland Islands Government Office.
Where to stay
As an angler, it certainly makes the most sense to rent a holiday home.
There are beautifully located houses scattered all over the Falkland Islands, offering a magnificent view and the comfort is more than satisfactory.
A list of all rentable holiday homes is available on the Falkland Islands Tourist Board website.
At this point a little etiquette:
When you enter a house on the Falkland Islands, it is an unwritten rule to leave your outdoor shoes where they belong: outdoors.
In case you forget to take them off, the house owner may tell you directly.
There are beautifully located houses scattered all over the Falkland Islands, offering a magnificent view and the comfort is more than satisfactory.
A list of all rentable holiday homes is available on the Falkland Islands Tourist Board website.
At this point a little etiquette:
When you enter a house on the Falkland Islands, it is an unwritten rule to leave your outdoor shoes where they belong: outdoors.
In case you forget to take them off, the house owner may tell you directly.
Mobility
On East Falkland it is quite easy to get a rental car to go fishing. However, before setting off you should clarify with the company whether you may take off road trips as a non-local. But don’t worry: There are many fishing spots that can be reached directly by car or are only a short walk away.
You can also find more contacts for rental car companies on the Falkland Island Tourist Board website.
You can also find more contacts for rental car companies on the Falkland Island Tourist Board website.
General communication and Internet
In the digital age, the residents of the Falkland Islands have of course been provided with basic internet and mobile communications.
We spoiled metropolitan people of the big industrialized nations, however, feel a bit lost and irritated when faced with the limited possibilities on the Falkland Islands.
To explain this you need to know that no undersea cables have been laid to the Falkland Islands and every transmission, be it television or the internet, is received via satellite.
Anyone who has ever had to rely on this digital satellite reception, like perhaps on a cruise ship, knows how tiresomely slow the transmission, how limited the volume is, and how correspondingly expensive the amounts of data are.
As a tourist who does not have an ongoing contract with the only provider (Sure) of the islands, your only possibility to use internet or WiFi connections is via prepaid cards.
We spoiled metropolitan people of the big industrialized nations, however, feel a bit lost and irritated when faced with the limited possibilities on the Falkland Islands.
To explain this you need to know that no undersea cables have been laid to the Falkland Islands and every transmission, be it television or the internet, is received via satellite.
Anyone who has ever had to rely on this digital satellite reception, like perhaps on a cruise ship, knows how tiresomely slow the transmission, how limited the volume is, and how correspondingly expensive the amounts of data are.
As a tourist who does not have an ongoing contract with the only provider (Sure) of the islands, your only possibility to use internet or WiFi connections is via prepaid cards.
One quick word regarding the military history of the country…
During our planning phase we often came across blog entries or concerns from anglers as to what extent the landmines from the Falklands War, which can still be found in the ground today, might affect a fishing holiday.
Over the past few years, almost all mines have been defused by African clearance specialists. All areas in which they were placed are known and fenced.
Nobody has been harmed since the Falklands War (except a cow).
During our planning phase we often came across blog entries or concerns from anglers as to what extent the landmines from the Falklands War, which can still be found in the ground today, might affect a fishing holiday.
Over the past few years, almost all mines have been defused by African clearance specialists. All areas in which they were placed are known and fenced.
Nobody has been harmed since the Falklands War (except a cow).