As the young ‘uns would say, “O.M.G., the South Georgia Islands are AWESOME”!
Lucky me. I got to spend FOUR whole days there.
I had expected rain the entire time we were there, because I believed the weather reports, but we lucked out.
Yes, I DID get up at 4:45 AM, on the first morning to ensure we beat the drizzle. It was SO worth it. The King Penguins are also early risers, so the welcoming committee was out in full force to greet us .
As a bonus, we also saw elephant seals tussling. We later learned that it was because they were roughly the same size. Usually, they can visually determine which one is bigger, ( and thus the winner, who will get all the “girls”) so no need for contact sport. As Ella, our seal expert explained, elephant seals are lovers, not fighters.
Mostly, they like to “wallow” next to each other.
Some of us opted for a two hour, two mile hike, with about a four hundred foot elevation.
That it took two hours to cover two miles SHOULD have been the tipoff that this was not going to be a stroll in the park. But as Elvis once famously sang “ fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.
Those that know me, will instantly know which term applies to me. My reward? Seeing little guys like this one hiding out along the way.
We started at the beach, way, WAY below. Though the grassy part looked pretty benign, it wasn’t. It was very spongy, but looked deceptively solid. Then you stepped on it and SANK varying degrees. Still, I was glad I did the hike. Not bad for a soon to be 77 year old!
The hardest part, by far, was the descent. Let me tell ya, the next day my thighs were screaming “ What were ya thinkin”? This was an ARDUOUS hike. (My friend Jean will get that reference!).
Our afternoon zodiac cruise was equally spectacular. the photo below just doesn’t do it justice.
So, when we were offered the opportunity to do ANOTHER hike on day 3, this fool ignored the pain in her thighs and continued to “rush in”.
Although the second hike was definitely not as “arduous” as the first, it was not without its challenges. We needed to cross a glacial stream both coming AND going.
Once again, it looked deceptively simple. Once again, it was not. You see, the glacial melt randomly deposited many different sized rocks in the stream bed. Some moved unexpectedly when you placed your foot upon it. That’s why members of the crew were standing in the stream to help us across. I was happy to “volunteer” to perform a VERY important safety drill. When I stepped on one of those moveable rocks, I pitched backwards, almost pulling one of the naturalists into the stream with me. Fortunately, the crew member behind me grabbed my butt and shoved me upright. Sadly, that memorable event was not captured on video. Instead, I offer some photos as an alternative.
The next excitement for the day was when a fur seal charged at me, with teeth bared. No video of THAT exchange either. But I DO have a photo of me with my two new friends, Dorothy and Karen.
I have so many fantastic videos, I could easily make your eyes glaze over and have you mutter “enough, already”. I’m a wildlife nerd, and for ME, I can never have enough of these charming creatures.
I LOVED watching these penguins “porposing” through the water:
One more video and then I’ll stop.
We encountered a bit of a “traffic jam” while waiting for the zodiac to return us to the ship.
South Georgia will be continued in a future post.
Destination NOW 