And the next question (actually a series of questions in one continuous breath) was: "The Falkland Islands? Are they part of South America? Didn't England go to war over them? Aren't they close to Antarctica? Does anybody live there?"

The Falkland Islands may be 8000 miles and 18 hours by RAF flight from Great Britain, but they're comparatively only a hop, skip & jump from South America. Located in the South Atlantic just 400 miles off the coast of South America, the flight is a short 1 hour 20 minutes from Punta Arenas, Chile.

There are over 700 islands, according to Falkland Islands Tourist Board information, but many of those are small spits of land. For all practical purposes there are 2 large islands - East and West Falklands - and their associated groupings of islands, with maybe 400 of reasonable size, such as Sea Lion which is 1 mile wide by 5 miles long. They lie at the same latitude south as London is north, so they are not at all exposed to the harsh climate often associated with them.

East Falkland Island has the only town, which by island standards is a metropolis, the town of Stanley. Of the (2017) almost 3500 inhabitants of the islands, (2017) just under 3000 live in Stanley, with the remaining (+/-) 500 living in Camp.

Everything outside of Stanley is "Camp", the Falklander term for "country" originating from the Spanish word "campo". And in Camp there are settlements, some with multiple houses and up to 40 persons, some simply a single family farm grouping of buildings.

While they have been both remote and isolated in the past, today the Islands are connected to the world by satellite (2017: and internet) and lack few of the accoutrements of comfortable living. Settlements have sophisticated satellite antennas for weather data and communications. Generators have replaced peat with electricity as the source of energy for cooking, heating water, running TVs and radios. "On-demand air service" by 9-seater Islander aircraft and over 40 air strips connect the settlements to the capital Stanley and to each other.

Yet, the essence of Camp is of a time gone by and the people retain the values of a simpler life once dictated by their remoteness - (most) everyone knows everyone, and most everything about everyone; there is no need to lock cars or houses or rooms; there is no crime; friendship and good neighbor values abound.