The Falklands should be recognized as a bona fide country -- but experienced mainly vicariously.
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
When I visited the Falklands seven years ago, it was apparent that plastic
pollutiion was already becoming a problem, as shown by the large plastic items I
inadvertently photographed while gazing at a lovely elephant seal.
These German-built wind turbines I saw in 2013 were just the beginning. NOW there are SIX of them in the Falklands! Talk about bird-killing eyesores! Why not try tidal power generators?
On Carcass these penguins were so curious about strange old me! They waddled
up close to see what I was doing...
Here I stretched out my arms as I savoured the beauty of the Falklands -- BUT...
on the other side of the barrier, landmines planted by 1982 invaders of the Falklands,
-- constituted and continue to constitute to this day -- a very real danger.
There I am with taxi driver, tour guide, and friend Nobby Clark of Stanley, capital of
the Falkland Islands.
http://blueplanetsociety.org/2016/04/falklands-conservation-is-non_1/
https://www.falklands.gov.fk/our-home/ ;
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
I waited more than 31 years from the time I decided to go to the Falklands till I finally went. And now it is close to 7 years since my 2013 visit to the Falklands. For the past year I have become determined to visit the Falklands again... As I prepare for the trip, I have contacted Nobbe Clark, a dear friend down there, in order to see how conditions are in the faraway place with the
beautiful name: The Falkland Islands.
To tell you the truth, I may very well not travel there in actuality, but I definitely will travel there VICARIOUSLY. You see, the ramifications of globalization continue to besiege us. I am absolutely unnerved to see the huge amounts of advertisements for travel that hit me whenever I go online.
It is travel that is spreading COVID-19. It is travel that is spreading environmental pollution. It is travel that is introducing invasive species/invasive cultures to the formerly out-of-the-way, faraway, pristine places that are being adversely affected by them.
My plan is to go to the Falklands not as a tourist, but as a fact-finder. In the event that I do not go there, I WILL NOT ASK FOR any refunds, because my heart will be -- and indeed, already IS -- in the Falklands.
We humans must learn to "love from a distance", "to worship from afar"!
You, my sister Falklands are, like me, a child of Earth...
I take a moment to remember my dear uncle Charles Walker, born March 13, 1938. (See Installment 201, March 13, 2014.) Just as my love for my UNCLE CHARLIE will never end, neither will my love for the Falklands -- or for EARTH!
Steve Walker
Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.