After a brief detour around a 17-mile-wide iceberg in the early hours of the morning, we finally arrived just after sunrise at one of the most remarkable wildlife locations on earth: South Georgia.
After a hearty breakfast we boarded Zodiacs and ventured ashore to Gold Harbour where we were immediately enthralled by the scenery that lay before us. It was a photographer’s dream with a huge colony of over 25,000 king penguins on the beach and the spectacular Bertrab Glacier towering over us in the background.
We walked around the beach for hours, carefully navigating the plethora of animals that inhabit this small stretch of coastline. We saw hundreds of elephant seals lying lazily on the beach and were even chased by a few feisty fur seals near the water’s edge.
After transporting a few guests back to the ship for lunch I even had a very close encounter with a chinstrap penguin who decided to join me in my Zodiac for the ride back to the beach. Enjoying the free ride around the harbor, the penguin decided to stay onboard for more than 30 minutes before finally jumping onto the beach to rejoin its fellow penguins ashore.
After lunch we once again donned our cold weather garb and took a delightful Zodiac tour around Cooper Bay and admired the many different species that inhabit this small sheltered bay. The highlight had to be the many baby fur seals that could be seen practicing their swimming technique in the small rock pools. After the cruise we landed ashore for the short hike up to a magnificent Macaroni penguin colony that sits precariously on a steep ridge on the far side of the bay.
After once again navigating a series of feisty fur seals on the beach, we were rewarded by not only the largest colony of macaroni penguins we had seen so far but a stunning view of the bay.
What an amazing start to our South Georgia exploration, we can only wonder what remarkable adventures lays in store for us tomorrow.
