San Carlos

The second weekend in May I had a free weekend from work and as it was just before my birthday we decided to go away for the weekend. I booked a self-catering cottage at San Carlos which is on the north west coast of East Falkland. We drove out Friday evening after work and as we had had quite a lot of rain the road was very muddy. The cottage was very well equipped, warm and comfortable and it was nice to cook up some dinner and relax for the rest of the evening.


This was the view from our bedroom window when we woke up the next morning. It was a beautiful sunny morning and after a leisurely breakfast and start to the day we set out for a walk.


We headed past the farm's wool shed and sheep handling pens where the farmer was busy sorting sheep.


Then we headed up the hill behind the settlement.

We passed the remains of several dugouts from the conflict and also found quite a few tea berries to pick and eat on our way.


Looking back to the settlement and San Carlos Water.


I was pleased to reach the top of this first hill and stop to admire the view and have a snack.

We then set off to walk along the ridge (the Verde Mountains) to the hill in the distance (Lookout Hill). The ground was very uneven and boggy in places so it was quite hard walking.

Along the ridge are the remains of several dugouts and military encampments where military personel were stationed after the conflict until Mount Pleasant was built. They certainly looked very basic.
We stopped to do some scrambling on this tor (Chapel Rocks) and admire the view again. When I was standing on top of the middle stack of rocks and Simon joined me I was surprised to find that the top slab was balanced and see-sawed as we stood on either edge of it.

On Lookout Hill there are these rapier missiles (no longer functional) left as a memorial to the conflict.


This building on Lookout Hill was still in relatively good condition, with the odd tin mug still hanging up inside and various names written on the walls.

A bird, probably a Falklands thrush , had found a snug place to build a nest inside.

Whoever painted this was obviously imagining a rather warmer scene to that which he would have been looking at through the lookout slit just below it!

As the sun was going down we headed back towards the settlement diagonally down across the hillside. By the time we got back the sun had set and the temperature was dropping drastically. It had been a beautiful sunny day and we were pleasantly tired. Tea and toast and a soak in a hot bath were much appreciated.