South Georgia Galore!

After a scary and less-than-pleasant day yesterday—and with still some disappointed guests at breakfast—the view from the windows gave hope for a magical day in the stunning South Georgia.

We landed on the beach at Fortuna Bay. There were a few waves, and sadly, some dead seals along the shoreline. South Georgia has been heavily affected by bird flu, which originated in Asia years ago and has since spread worldwide. Some birds get sick while others don’t, but unfortunately, quite a few mammals succumb to it, with seals suffering particularly badly.

Despite the carcasses—which some of nature's “cleaners,” like Southern Giant Petrels, treated as a buffet—the place is breathtakingly beautiful. It's the perfect combination of mountains, glaciers, beaches, wildlife, greenery, and raw, untamed beauty. I was incredibly impressed. Though I haven’t seen New Zealand yet, guests who have been there said it compares to this.

We encountered large groups of King Penguins—so incredibly beautiful! Just enjoy the pictures :) There were also seals, fur seals, elephant seals, and the aforementioned "cleaners" like petrels. A lot of fur seal pups were running around on the beach, super curious about the funny-looking animals (us)! I took plenty of photos but also gave myself time to just soak in the scenery. The sheer beauty of this place is truly moving.

After lunch, we repositioned the vessel to the neighboring bay, Stromness, where a couple of old whaling stations still stand as ruins—a haunting reminder of a dark time. In this remote corner of the world, 175,000 whales were slaughtered, and their fat (blubber) was boiled down into whale oil. The stations, mainly manned by Norwegians, were in operation until 1935.

Despite its grim history, the place is astonishing. I thought the morning had been fantastic, but this just topped it. The beauty here is impossible to capture fully in pictures—you simply have to visit!

We walked a bit inland to see a small Gentoo Penguin colony. The penguins were super cute, and the chicks were chasing their parents for food. However, as soon as a Brown Skua (which preys on small penguins) appeared in the air, the chicks huddled together in a tight group, making it harder for the skuas to grab any of them. It was adorable and impressive to see their survival instincts in action.

We also spotted the elusive South Georgia Pintail Duck, the world’s only carnivorous duck.

A final detail worth mentioning is that Stromness is most famous as the whaling station where Sir Ernest Shackleton and his two men arrived after being lost and presumed dead for two years. Their epic survival story, and rescue of their 21 friends stuck on elephant island is one you must read about—or wait for me to tell you another day :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton

Today was an amazing day! Plus, with a few flu-stricken guides out of commission, I had the chance to step in as a proper expedition guide 🥳Baca lagi