Just north of mainland West Falkland, Saunders Island was the site of the first British garrison on the Falklands, built in 1765, and it was their ousting by the Spanish in 1767 that nearly caused a war between the two countries. After the British left voluntarily in 1774, the Spanish razed the settlement, and all that remains today are a few jetties, block-house foundations and the garden terraces of the British marines. Aside from the ruins, the island boasts large colonies of seabirds (including several types of penguin) and elephant seals.

Approximately 1280km (800mi) east-southeast of the Falklands, the ice-capped island of South Georgia pokes out of the Atlantic just enough to make the Falklands look positively cosmopolitan. More than half its sharp, glacier-strewn terrain lies under a year-round blanket of snow and ice, with only the coastal fringes sporting any vegetation - mainly patches of tussock grass, moss and lichen. The island's few hardy inhabitants consist of a small British military detachment at King Edward Point and a British Antarctic Survey research team stationed at the island's northwesternmost tip.Captain James Cook made the first landing on South Georgia in January 1775. His descriptions of the island - and more specifically of its massive fur seal population - were published two years later, and the news set off a rush of blubber-bent sealers. By the 1830s, the fur seals had been all but exterminated and the hunters turned their attention to elephant seals, 'sea leopards' (probably Weddell seals) and later to the five species of whale that inhabit the local waters.The first whaling station on South Georgia sprang up at Grytviken in 1904, employing up to 300 men during the industry's heyday. Over the years, some 175,000 whales were processed here, including a 33.5m (110ft) female blue whale, the largest animal ever recorded. Grytviken's operations continued until the early 1960s, when whaling finally proved unprofitable and the station was abandoned. Today, many of its buildings, including the whalers' church and the various rendering halls, are open to visitors. The South Georgia Whaling Museum, housed in the former manager's house, features exhibits detailing the social and working lives of the whalers and displays on the wildlife and history of the island. The station's cemetery is the final resting place of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.Despite the slaughter of the past century, South Georgia's wildlife is once again varied and abundant. Fur seals are back in high numbers, and there are more than five million pairs of macaroni penguins and two huge king penguin colonies. Two thousand reindeer (introduced by the whaling companies) also roam the inland valleys.

The 11 islands of the South Sandwich group lie in a rough north-south arc about 1900km (1200mi) southeast of the Falkland Islands, 640km (400mi) beyond South Georgia. Though volcanic in origin (most are still active), the islands are 80% glacierized thanks to a cold ocean current originating in the Weddell Sea. The eight most southerly islands in the group were discovered by Captain Cook in 1775, while the northern three had to wait until 1819 for their fame to spread beyond the penguins. Though rich in wildlife, the islands still have no human inhabitants.Sealers made the first landing in 1818, but it took more than 150 years before tourists first started coming to the islands. Today, most of the islands' visitors are drawn by a chance to see the five million pairs of chinstrap penguins that breed there - one of the largest penguin colonies in the world.