Darwin and Goose Green

Where a slender isthmus links East Falkland [1]’s mountainous north with its undulating southern peninsula of Lafonia, about 60 miles west of Stanley [2], Darwin once had a population of nearly 200 that has fallen to a just a few, as most of the farm buildings and houses shifted to nearby Goose Green in the 1920s.

The peninsula, whose highest point is only 90 meters above sea level, takes its name from Montevideo merchant Samuel Fisher Lafone, founder of what became the Falkland Islands Company [3]; Lafone’s gauchos hunted feral cattle to be slaughtered, their hides processed, at his saladero.

Darwin is a historic site, starting with the circular corral that dates from saladero days before sheep replaced cattle, and it became the center of the FIC’s camp operations [4] for more than a century; the weathering headstones at Darwin Cemetery tell part of the story.

In 1982, the South Atlantic war’s deadliest combat took place at Goose Green; military landmarks include a monument to British Colonel H. Jones, who died leading an assault on Argentine positions, and the Argentine military cemetery.

At Goose Green itself, part of the FIC jetty, the decaying remains of the barque Vicar of Bray (1841) belong to the only surviving ship to have served San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. After spending several decades coasting the Islands, it was blown ashore here in 1912 and incorporated into the jetty.

South of Goose Green, dating from 1927, the Bodie Creek Bridge is the world’s southernmost suspension span. In the middle of the FIC camp, it simplified communications with the outlying Walker Creek and North Arm settlements.

The tastefully modernized Darwin Lodge (tel. 31313, darwin_house [at] cwimail [dot] fk, £61 pp with full board, £80 pp with full board) is under new management. Two of the nonsmoking facility’s five comfortable guest rooms have private baths, while the others share baths. Common areas include a sunny north-facing conservatory, large sitting and dining rooms, a substantial library, and a small bar.