MTV-PA Ryan 3

Granted, we found ourselves insome rough weather racing ahead of a storm to leave the Falklands,leaving some of us a bit under the weather (to say the least!) Followingour arrival to the Strait of Magellan, the very unusual and incrediblystory of the magical anchor becoming tangled in knots, then miraculouslyfixing itself completely overnight in very rough seas made for asuitable farewell to a trip full of luck, almost all of it great luck,which of course we will always happily accept!Luck. Of course we were lucky to have weather and water conditions thatallowed for frequent and awesome landings, which cannot be taken forgranted. Friendly dolphins (including huge pods at times) accompaniedus for much of the trip, making watches something to look forward to, inaddition to all the seabird life flying around the ship. Rare landingslike Steeple Jason made the trip particularly special to see thehundreds of thousands of albatrosses nesting. We had a few patches ofwhat might seemed as "bad luck" but in reality, those times weremore-or-less what would be defined as expected weather in the Falklandsand surrounding seas, and we should not take for granted our longstretches of clear, pleasant weather, and great sailing winds when theycame.In the end, in my opinion, the most luck we had on the trip was justbeing on the trip to begin with. At sea, we had sailing, calm seas,rough seas, starry nights, and rain. On land, however, we foundfriendly locals who proudly showed us their islands. They introduced usto how they live and share the land with all of the exceptional wildlifewhich also calls these islands home. Many are actively involved inconservation efforts and some residents even accompanied us on ourhikes. Due to the small size of the ship and our group, we could makelandings in areas often not possible on other ships, and spend more timeexploring and immersing ourselves in this world.When the Falklands are mentioned to many people, it can result in apuzzled look on some faces, before they think of the war. The islandsare so much more. The topography is not as "spectacular" as more wellknown places like Antarctica or even South Georgia, but the Falklandsare so underrated and full of life. With so rolling hills, pleasanthikes, and plentiful unique wildlife, (with so few visitors!) thiswonderful place deserves to be so much higher on peoples' bucket listsof exceptional places to visit. If people take the time to explore andtake their time, like with the Europa on this trip, they can discover somuch about a unique corner of the world.Thank you to the Bark Europa and the exceptional crew, officers, andguides for making a dream of mine come true and delivering a specialexperience that will be with me for the rest of my life. They worked sohard on delivering an unforgettable experience and keeping thistraditional travel method alive and sharing their extensive expertise.In my opinion the special places take on even more meaning if one makesan effort to get there. I couldn't think of a finer way to travel andbring adventurous voyagers to the most special corners of the world.-Ryan