South Georgia Island!

The theme of this trip is ‘Penguin Safari’, and it starts right here in a big way! A pre – breakfast (early!) zodiac tour around the island, back to the ship for breakfast, and by 9:30 we were back in the zodiacs. A few very chilly minutes later we disembarked. Clearly the penguins were expecting us.

These mountains run from one end of South Georgia Island to the other. Imagine crossing the island on foot, with no equipment but a piece of rope. That’s what Earnest Shackleton did after his ship sank and he and his crew had no choice but to make camp on the ice.

This afternoon we head to a different part of the Island. This part is where the great Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, accompanied by three of the crew from his catastrophic expedition, landed after a perilous and desperate trip. Their goal was to bring a ship back to rescue the remaining crew members stranded on Elephant Island, who were engaged in their own struggle for survival. A former whaling station, now that whaling is illegal in Antarctica the principle inhabitants are penguins and seals.