Blogs from South Georgia, South Georgia, South America
January 15th 2010
After a wonderful landing at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia (well worth the 36 hour wait while the storm died down) we are back on the ship making our way along the north coast of the island. Its a continuous show of spectacular views, even with the heavy swell and low cloud its impossible not to stand outside and watch it all sailing past. After a few hours we turn into Fortuna Bay and as we travel the 3 miles to the glacier at the end of the fjord we become totally surrounded by the stunning scenery - you could just sit on the top deck and soak up the 360 degree view for hours. Indeed, as the swells are still strong and there are big waves crashing on the landing beach the more sensible passengers ... read more
South Georgia - Salisbury Plain
Published: February 23rd 2010South America » South Georgia » South Georgia
January 14th 2010
After 36hrs of bobbing around looking at land (well ok - mostly low cloud with the occasional glimpse of land) we have finally managed to set foot on South Georgia. The force 12 storm has died down but there are still strong swells (apparently they takes several hours to subside after a storm) so most of the beaches have big waves rolling in and crashing on them Luckily, there is one tiny sheltered spot where the swells are smaller and we manage to land. Our destination is the King Penguin colony at Salisbury Plain - its only a mile away but it takes an age to get there as the entire route is full of wildlife that seems to want to play. On the landing beach the Antarctic fur seal pups come charging right up to ... read more
January 13th 2010
3 nights and 3 full days - that's how long we are out in the open seas between The Falklands and South Georgia. Luckily its warm and sunny with calm seas and the wildlife entertainment show is still in full swing. The sea-birds are constantly circling the ship including some new species e.g. wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatross, black bellied storm petrels, soft-plumaged petrels. During the second day the sea temperature dropped from 10oC to 4oC. This means we have crossed the Antarctic Convergence and are now officially in Antarctic Waters. This day was officially christened Whale Day - in total we saw 72 whales (fin, bottlenose, sei and southern right) and 27 hour-glass dolphins, how spectacular. Some just pass by fleetingly, some get on with the job of feeding right in front of us taking no ... read more
