South Georgia

This is a long one... the past week has been so packed that I haven't hadtime to do regular entries.

Sunday, January 25

Open water day… rough seas. Ate breakfast, then rode the exercise bike downin the lecture room (almost went over the handlebars due to the pitching ofthe ship). Felt good to get some exercise, but soon after, I startedfeeling seasick. Tried to eat lunch, but was only able to eat some breadbefore I felt nauseous. The only thing that seemed to help was laying flaton my back, and so that is how I spent the day. Thankfully I wasn't missingmuch, as the only activities were lectures and movies. Tried to eat dinner,but same results… only bread and some broth before the nausea hit again, soback to bed I went. Finally, I decided to give up on the scopolaminepatches, and went to talk to Dr. John. He gave me some pills that seemed todo the trick; only problem is they make me a little sleepy. Went to bedwith a warning from Shane that tomorrow's landings didn't look promising dueto weather conditions. Somebody mentioned they'd heard that the Orlova(another ship doing a similar route, a few days ahead of us) had scrubbedall of its South Georgia landings and headed on to the Antarctic Peninsula. For the cost and effort to get here, and now the seasickness, I was feelingpretty disheartened about the prospects of the next few days.

Monday, January 26

After a discouraging start, today turned out to be one of the days that Iknow will be the most memorable of the trip.

Shane (our expedition leader) called off our first stop at Elsehul Bay onSouth Georgia Island due to rough weather, so we went on to Right Whale Bayto attempt our next landing after lunch. As we pulled into Right Whale Bayand the shoreline became visible through the fog, I saw what looked like adirty glacier coming down from the mountains to a rocky shoreline… then Irealized the "glacier" was a multitude of penguins, and the "rocks" wereseals! We anchored a couple miles offshore, and even from there we couldhear the cacophony from the animals on shore. We watched anxiously from thebridge as the staff sent a Zodiac ashore to see if a safe landing could bemade, and we were happy when Shane decided to make it a go.

By the time we got into the Zodiac to head to shore, the sun was shining,but it started raining again before we even got to shore. As we weregetting out of the Zodiac on the beach, a sneaker wave drenched us. Then Iwas walking a little too low on the beach, and a couple more waves washed inand splashed into my boots… so I spent most of the shore time with wet feet.

However, the cold/wet feet hardly mattered. When I was booking myAntarctica trip, Joy, my travel agent enthusiastically recommended includingSouth Georgia (thanks Joy!). And here on our first landing, I understoodwhy. The beach was covered with tens of thousands of king penguins andthousands of fur seals. As soon as I jumped out of the Zodiac and turnedaround on the beach, there I was face-to-face with several curious penguinsand seals.

The small seal pups were like little puppies… they would excitedly run alongside you or right at you, with a gurgling sort of growl, staring up witheyes way too big for their little heads. The older juvenile seals wouldfeign ferociousness and charge at you, only to retreat immediately to a safedistance when they realize you're not afraid of them.

This was a breeding and molting ground for king penguins. Young chicksstart out covered by feathers that look like a very fluffy brown fur coat –it makes them look bigger than the adults. Some of them had their "coat"intact, while others were starting to molt… in some cases making them lookpretty scraggly. Likewise many of the adults were also undergoing theirannual molting. Many of them were trumpeting.

The penguin chicks are very curious, and if I stood still, they would walkright up to me with an inquisitive look, sometimes tilting their head atfunny angles or flapping their flippers to get a reaction.

We followed Jonathan down the beach to the best viewing point near theperimeter of the main part of the colony. There was a light drizzle and anincreasing wind the whole time we were on shore. Eventually the wind becamecause for concern… a violent gust nearly knocked me off my feet and I swearI saw Nico (who is my size) lifted off the ground momentarily. When Iturned around, Johann, Lay Chin, and Claire were flat on their backs on themuddy ground… I found out later each had minor injuries as a result. Everyone gathered behind a rock outcrop and in stages made our way back tothe landing site as the Zodiacs ferried us back to shore… I heard one of thestaff estimate the winds at 60-knots. The really dicey part was gettingfrom the Zodiac to the gangway platform as the ship and platform rolled withthe swells, while wind and smaller waves tossed the Zodiac back and forth…gladly, everyone made it safely back on board. Obviously, there was realcause for concern during this whole episode, and I'm sure the staff was onedge, but they handled it all calmly and that kept all of us calm, too… andin the end everyone felt that it was all part of the adventure.

By the time I got back to the ship, I was completely chilled, so I wentstraight to the shower. Then I had enough time to relax in the bar for afew minutes before dinner, when someone called out an iceberg (a first forme, as I had apparently missed a previous sighting)… I grabbed my camera anddashed outside in my t-shirt. It was surreal… this massive piece of ice,many times bigger than our ship, floating out there. Although it was mostlyfoggy, a shaft of sunlight found its way through the clouds onto the ice,casting shadows and creating a diffuse glow in the foggy air.

Over dinner, in our evening recap, and going to bed, I was thoroughly happywith this day's incredible adventure, not realizing it would only getbetter.

Tuesday, January 27

We had a 5 a.m. wakeup call at Prion Island on South Georgia. The weatherwas beautiful – mostly sunny and relatively calm… the complete opposite ofthe night before.

Prion Island is one of the few places to see nesting Wandering Albatrosses. I'm not keeping a tally or taking note of all the bird we're seeing, butthe Wandering Albatross is an impressive bird. It is the world's largestflying bird, at 20 lbs, with a wing span up to 13 feet. There have been alot of them following our ship on the open seas.

We also saw the South Georgia Pipit, a little brown bird (the only nativesongbird in South Georgia). We also saw more king and gentoo penguins andfur seals. Then back to the ship for breakfast.

Our next landing was Salisbury Plain… at yesterday's landing the kingpenguins numbered in the tens of thousands, today they numbered in thehundreds of thousands, covering the beach and the grassy plain above thebeach. More fur seals too, and today also a few (enormous!) elephant seals,wallowing in the mud and making all kinds of rude noises.

Again the king penguin chicks would come up and check me out. The sound wasamazing, the air full of the trumpeting of king penguins and barking ofseals. And then there is the smell of penguin guano and seal wallows… acrid is the best word I can find.

The key to not disturbing the penguins and seals – and to getting the mostout of the experience – is to walk slowly and deliberately, and if an animalis moving, to not cut it off. As Jonathan puts it, we're doing it rightwhen the animals don't change their behavior on account of our presence. When we do this, we can walk right among the animals and they barely react,other than approaching out of curiosity. This is getting easier now thatwe've had a few successful landings… I feel like I can take it at a morerelaxed pace and really appreciate the scene without having to

After Salisbury plain, back to the ship again… nap, lunch, and another nap.

Before and after every landing, we all go through a boot wash station, toscrub any traces of mud or seeds from our boots… this is to preventtransporting any non-native species between locations.

We did our third landing of the day at Fortuna Bay. From there, we hikedthe last steps of Ernest Shackleton's epic 1916 journey. Shackleton hadcrossed 800 miles of ocean in a small lifeboat to reach South Georgia, butlanded on the west side of the island; all inhabited areas were on the eastside. So he set out on foot, climbing the 5,500-foot mountains and glaciersover the island. Our hike followed the relatively-easy final 5 miles ofthis journey – from Fortuna Bay over a low pass to the Stromness WhalingStation (now a ghost town). It was a sunny and relatively warm afternoon,perfect for the hike. The terrain transitioned from grass to rough shalewith sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. After wewent over the pass, we descended into a wide grassy valley to the oldwhaling station. At several points along the hike, Phil read excerpts fromShackleton's own writings of the journey, describing the places we wereseeing.

Along the hike we saw reindeer, which were an odd sight in this part of theworld. The reindeer had been imported by Norwegians during the whalingperiod of the early 20th century, and a population of several thousandanimals still exists.

We could not go closer than 200 meters to the abandoned whaling station(asbestos hazard warning signs) but it was still a striking image, the ghosttown on the bay surrounded by the windswept mountains. At the perimeterwhere it was safe to walk, there was an assortment of huge propellers andother ship parts, which added to the scene.

During the last half of the hike, Roy (one of my shipmates who I've clickedwith; recent retiree from South Africa) had to take it slow because his kneewas bothering him. Everyone else hiked ahead while I stayed back withJonathan (of the staff) to keep Roy some company. Everyone made it backfine.

Back on the ship, there was an incredible sunset over the peaks and glaciersof South Georgia rising up from the ocean.

I'm enjoying the daily flow of things… wakeup call, landings, naps, meals,evening recaps. And I'm feeling like I'm clicking socially with myshipmates and the staff… I like everyone, although there are certain peopleI tend to spend more time with. I'm glad I chose the smaller ship size (48passengers) instead of a larger ship, as the trip feels more intimate andshared.

Things are going smoothly with my cabin mates, too. Wayne (from Calgary) issuper easy-going. I've figured out that Alexey (Russian) is an interpreterfor a couple other Russians on board (a fat older man and a youngerattractive woman; not sure about their story) who don't really fit. Apparently they thought everything would be in Spanish; Alexey is extremelyfluent in Spanish, less proficient but passable in English. In any case,Alexey is a great cabin-mate – friendly, neat, and quiet.

Wednesday, January 28

Woke up feeling like hell – headache and tired all over – probably frombeing dehydrated. We aren't supposed to pee on shore, so I'm only drinkinga fraction of the water I usually drink. Still, I wasn't about to miss alanding.

This morning we landed at St. Andrews Bay. Every day just gets moreamazing… at this location there are 500,000 king penguins. I'm running outof superlatives to describe the experience… we hiked up to a vantage point,from where we could see a flat expanse of a river delta flowing into thebay, and every square foot was covered by penguins. It's hard to describethe sight and the noise (and the smell). I've been taking hundreds ofphotos, but it's hard to do these scenes justice.

With all the penguins gathered along the riverbank, it reminded me of thescenes of the Ganges River (I think) in India where millions of people makea religious pilgrimage.

Other random observations… we've been seeing more elephant seals, which areenormous compared to the little fur seals. But we are seeing only adultfemale elephant seals… if there were any males on the beach, we would not belanding; adult males are aggressive and dangerous.

The weather continues to be amazing… broken clouds and sun, an occasionalshower… and of course the ever-present wind, but not as bad as the gale weencountered a couple days ago.

One thing I've noticed at South Georgia and Falklands has been how manyseals and penguins inhabit the tussock grass above the beaches. We'll benegotiating our way through the hummocks and constantly encountering sealpups and penguins.

Our next landing was Grytviken Whaling Station – the station was inoperation for over 50 years in the 20th century, and is now preserved as ahistorical site… the whale processing equipment, tanks for whale oil,church, dorms, and old whaling ships. There is also a British AntarcticSurvey research station, which houses most of South Georgia's residents(about 12). They also have a post office, so I mailed a few postcards.

The staff on our boat is crazy about Shackleton (and with good reason). Themain reason we came to Grytviken was to pay respects at Shackleton's grave. Shackleton died of heart failure en route to another Antarctic expeditionseveral years after his amazing survival tale, and his wife instructed thathe should be buried on South Georgia. It was a small cemetery with about 60graves, surrounded by a white rail fence to keep the elephant seals out. Wetook a group photo at the grave and the staff brought ashore a bottle ofwhiskey and cups so we could all raise a toast to Shackleton.

Also in the museum at Grytviken is a reproduction of the James S. Caird… thelifeboat that Shackleton sailed from Elephant Island over 800 miles to SouthGeorgia. This boat was the one used in the IMAX film, and was actuallysailed on the same journey. The staff on our ship was particularly excitedto see this boat on display, as they had delivered it here to the museum onboard our ship, the Shokalskiy, in 2008. It was pretty amazing to considerthat Shackleton had sailed this 22-foot lifeboat on the same seas that havebeen tossing our 215-foot ship about so fiercely.

To finish off the day, the staff had arranged a BBQ on deck for dinner,which was fun, but brief – we were anchored but it was still too windy andcold to stay outside long. In the evening, a young researcher from the BASstation came on board and talked about fisheries science and research, andlife at the station. He'll be here for 33 months… that will include 2winters.

Thursday, January 29

We had another early wakeup, and went straight to a landing at Gold Harbor –our last beach landing on South Georgia. Another beautiful morning; justenough clouds to create the right light effects on the icebergs drifting acouple miles off shore. Relative to the last few days, this was a smallking penguin colony. The unique feature at this site was the hangingglacier (a glacier face perched several hundred feet above the coastline). However, there was minimal calving or icefall. So as everyone went off tohike to a vantage point for the glacier, I decided to find a spot to sitamong the penguins. I sat down and let the penguins get comfortable with mypresence, and then every few minutes inched my way a little closer. At thesame time, the penguins started filling in around me; just a foot or twoaway. Some were curious and stopped to check me out; others just marchedright past... soon I was surrounded by adults and chicks. The chicks inparticular seemed oblivious to me. They are molting, so they spend a lot oftime just standing still. Then several sheathbills (white birds, about thesize of a large pigeon) showed up. Sheathbills are not shy. They startedpecking on my pack, my boot, even my (gloved) finger. And so I sat therefor more than an hour, watching and listening and taking it all in.

Later in the day we did a Zodiac cruise around Cooper Bay, where we saw ourfirst Macaroni Penguins, and then our last experience of South Georgia was acruise in the Shokalskiy up Drygaliski Fjord, which offered close-up viewsof glaciers and waterfalls. The wind was howling, which was dispersing someof the waterfalls into mist before it hit the ground. After DrygaliskiFjord, we rounded the south end of South Georgia and headed into the openseas toward the Antarctic Peninsula.

Friday, January 30

Today was an open water day, and I spent the whole day fighting seasickness(and losing the battle). I was trying the pills again, and they weren'tworking… the only thing that worked was sleeping, and the pills made meplenty sleepy anyway. I did make it to a couple lectures about glaciers (byDan) and Antarctic geology (by Phil), and a documentary about Amundsenwinning the race to the South Pole. I also attended a briefing session forkayaking, and received my drysuit and other kayak gear. And I worked on myjournal/blog in short bursts (prolonged time on the keyboard isn't good forseasickness).

Sometime late in the evening or wee hours of the morning we crossed 60degrees south latitude… the second definition of Antarctica. The only onethat remains is to stand on the continent itself.

Saturday, January 31

We arrived today at the Orkney Islands, a small group midway between SouthGeorgia and the Peninsula. We were supposed to do a landing to see AdeliePenguins here (probably our only chance to see Adelies) and also do ourfirst paddle in the kayaks. However, the wind was howling again, so Dancalled off the kayaking. Then when we landed, the Adelies were nowhere tobe found. The staff was very surprised that the Adelie colony was gone;apparently, they should be here at this time of the year in this location. There were only a few fur and elephant seals on the beach. So we hiked up aglacier… it was interesting to see the glacier up close, but we weredisappointed to miss the Adelies.

After the landing, we are back on open water; due to hit the ShetlandIslands (just off the peninsula) tomorrow. I'm feeling less seasick today…maybe a combination of less rough seas, the walk on solid land, and tryingthe patch again instead of the pills.