Happy Equinox! March 20th is significant for a few reasons. In the southern hemisphere it tones the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. For the expedition companies that have ships along the Antarctic Peninsula, South America as well as the islands off shore, such as South Georgia and the Falklands, it means it is time to head north. Expedition ships tend to follow the sun in order to escape the heat. Today the sun was squarely above the equator, which means everywhere on earth has roughly the same 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. The poles, the midlatitudes and the tropics. This of course can only happen on two days a year, the March and September equinox.
Today our equinox would be spent in the capital city of the Falklands, Stanley. Various offerings were available for folks to enjoy aspects of the city and its surrounding. There was a hike offered to see where British soldiers had made their way to the western side of the town during the 1982 conflict. There was also a trip out to a working sheep farm where views of camp life and sheep shearing were witnessed. There also a highlights tour of the city itself to see the architecture, history and meet some of the people in this smallish of capitals only containing a little over 2,000 people. The tour ended at the newly built wharf museum that houses many artifacts and representations of the natural history of the islands. This was followed by shopping opportunities and a chance to visit the Christs’ Church cathedral with its whale bone arch.
