Wildlife tends to dominate international images of the Falklands, but West Falkland - 80 miles long and 45 miles across - offers something equally valuable: an expecially good place to experience rural life outside capital Stanley. It's hillier and more rugged than East Falkland, and around places such as Port Howard, sheep farming remains central to everyday life. Roads cross huge expanses with almost no settlement, and farms may be separated from their neighbors by distances that would encompass entire towns elsewhere. Fishing, farming and the rhythms of weather continue to shape daily routines. For travelers this is where the human scale of the Falklands becomes most apparent. With so few inhabitants spread across such a large territory, staying on a farm or in a tiny settlement offers something increasingly difficult to find elsewhere: not a tourism reconstruction of rural life, but the real thing. It's a 45-minute flight away, but you can also drive here thanks to a two-hour ferry across Falkland Sound to Port Howard.
Read more in my post Are the Falkland Islands Worth Visiting?
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