Around the World with Jan

The trip of a lifetime Around the World with Jan
Grytviken
January 28, 2017 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⛅ 14 °C
The days have fallen into a steady rhythm of wonderful meals and amazing trips out to the various islands as we headed down towards the Antarctic Peninsula.

We started to run out of words to describe this stunning, overwhelming and beautiful place. Nothing prepares you for the majesty of the landscape, towering icebergs that dominate the horizon, whales feeding as the sun starts to set and the pungent odour of seal and penguin colonies as we approached land.

You feel so small, so insignificant in such a vast and spectacular place.

We saw the impact of man on the environment as we explored Shackleton's route to Stromness and his grave at Grytviken. One can only imagine the horror and brutality of the whaling industry captured in black and white images displayed in the small museum. It was a hard life for those who came here from Scotland and Scandinavia to make money for a better life for their families. At the same time,the majestic creatures that ply the waters of Antarctica are still trying to recover from the rape and pillage of their environment.Read more
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The trip of a lifetime Around the World with Jan
South Georgia
January 24, 2017 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 🌙 27 °C
Our first sight of South Georgia was in fog with no sign of land. By lunchtime we were heading for the Zodiacs for the first time, the ship filled with an air of excitement. We had arrived.

We were greeted by a delegation of King penguins and the beach was littered with seals and elephant seals. The time of year meant that we were surrounded by the cutest baby fur seals all clambering for attention, their cute little faces lifted to take a look at the strange new creatures in their domain.

Our second Zodiac adventure of the day took us Point Rosa where Shackleton's men found shelter and fresh water all those years ago. Neither dressed nor prepared for this harsh continent, they struggled to find their way home unlike us with our warm cabins and delicious food to look forward to at the end of the day.Read more
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The trip of a lifetime Around the World with Jan
Heading South
January 21, 2017 in Falkland Islands 🌬 11 °C
The day the trip really begins. I boarded the flight to Stanley wondering what lay ahead of us. There's only one flight a week so you can't afford to miss it or you miss the boat, literally, not a good look.

What we found was a little piece of England with English shops, houses and people. The Falklands is a windswept island, it was raining, it was cold and the scenery seemed dark and brooding to those of us from sunnier shores.

Nothing prepared me for the size of the Polar Pioneer - it was much smaller than I expected and I was about to sail off into the open sea - bloody hell, what had I done?

We set off in the early evening for 2 days of open sea to get us to South Georgia. A time to get to know my fellow travellers, read a little and learn more about where we were going from our on-board experts.Read more
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The trip of a lifetime Around the World with Jan
The trip of a lifetime
January 19, 2017 in Australia ☁️ 20 °C
It was hot when I left Sydney airport and just as hot when I reached Santiago. I had wanted to go to Antarctica all my life and couldn’t quite believe that I was now on the first step of what turned out to be the most incredible journey…..

Over the coming weeks, I would run out of words to describe Antarctica and the amazing things we saw in the most remote part of our planet.Read more
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Around the World with Jan

Grytviken

South Georgia

Heading South

The trip of a lifetime

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