I'VE BEEN.
It's certainly an interesting place, quite unlike most places I've ever visited. As others have said, it is pretty bleak. I think that 15 degrees is a balmy day there and the wind never really stops howling as it's a rather flat place in the middle of a fucking vast ocean. I sailed into Port Stanley and it's a strange sensation seeing the names of all of the Navy ships writ large upon the small hills surrounding the harbour.
I don't think I went to the bar in the pictures someone's already posted, but I did go to one right near the dock that was essentially a temporary structure from the 80s filled with guns and regimental pictures etc. There was an RPG hanging from the ceiling. It's that kind of place. Provincial rugby club / regimental mess / small village vibe.
There were lots of English people there as well as a fair few South Africans and Chileans. It sort of felt like a army village somewhere in Dorset crossed with Royston Vasey but instead placed on a rock in the absolute middle of nowhere. You are often reminded of the quite perilous location and conditions by the presence of numerous shipwrecks dotted about the harbour. One of the big 'uns is over 100 years old I think. Port Stanley harbour is quite wide and long? Deep? (I'm no marine expert) and it's often windy enough to stop boats of certain sizes from being able to dock there.
The positives? There is an abundance of beautiful wildlife, mostly birds, and the landscape does have a certain charm if you're into isolation. If your wife likes penguins (the birds, not the chocolate bars, I'm not saying she's a wideload) then she's in luck. We were told there's two main beaches where the penguins live. I chose poorly and only saw one penguin sat in a scratchy-looking bush; once they start molting they don't move, they just sit there shitting everywhere (EVERYWHERE) and you can go up and get real close to them. They only move once they've replaced every single feather. Those mates that chose wisely went to the decent beach and were treated to the sight of hundreds of them coming out of the water and running around the place.
I felt very much like a foreigner in some other South American countries like Equador and Chile, so I was looking forward to seeing if the Falklands felt any different. Perhaps that's why one of my fondest memories of my visit was getting off the small tender in Port Stanley harbour to find a fucking burger van parked at the end of the pier. I knew then that I'd made it home. And yes, of course I had a 2 quid burger and a tea in a polystyrene cup.
I also had no idea of the very real tensions that still exist in the area. I went next to Ushuaia and all over the port they have signs in Spanish and English stating that they don't recognise the British occupation of the islands, they're still the Malvinas etc. I went for a lovely walk around the city with a friend who wore a Falklands Island beanie and an elderly Argentinian man came up to us and made it very clear that my friend should take her beanie off to avoid offending the locals. He even helpfully took it off her head and shoved it into her hands.
You can spend your English pounds there as well as yankee dollars (iirc). There are no cash machines but I'm sure they have ways and means of getting cold hard cash if you live on the island.
I have some pictures but they're on my other PC, I might add some a bit later.
