Day 22. South Georgia. 7.2.25

"As you near the rugged island of South Georgia, spare a thought for Captain James Cook, who arrived here in 1775 and believed it to be the northern tip of a great southern continent! In fact, it is a small island only 176 km (110 mi) long, but with a 3,000 m (9,842 ft) snow-capped mountain range, some of the world’s largest congregations of wildlife and a truly fascinating human history, South Georgia is an island of incredible riches."

 "Zodiac excursions may zip into craggy coves and along the rocky coastline in search of nesting penguins, seal haul-outs and bird cliffs. Keep an eye out for South Georgia’s kelp forests as well - these remarkable underwater ecosystems are quite mesmerising as their fronds sway back and forth on the water’s surface."

"Our Zodiacs will also transport ashore, where you can visit some of the largest king penguin colonies on Earth, take a guided walk among fur seals and elephant seals and wander along pebbled streams and grassy glacial outwash plains. We also hope to visit the remnants of South Georgia’s thriving whaling stations and pay our respects to Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose incredible voyage of survival is synonymous with this island."

"In addition to Zodiac excursions and shore excursions, we may ship cruise through fjords with towering cliffs of ancient stone, or into deeply indented bays towards dramatic glacier fronts. This is a great time to find a comfy spot in the observation lounge or make your way to the bridge (open at the Captain’s discretion) to enjoy uninterrupted views of South Georgia’s majestic coast."

Day 9 of our Antarctic Tour.

Very foggy this morning so we didn't see much of the approach to S.G. However we saw LOTS of fur seals porpoising around happily as we entered Jason harbour. 

We have had an excellent morning exploring despite the rain. We saw many sea birds, King penguins, fur seals and elephant seals.  We hiked through tussac grasses, pebbled beaches, mossy patches, crossed glacial outwashes(small creeks) and got soaking wet.

Zodiacs heading out to check the best landing sites and do a bio security check, looking for Avian flu. 

The mountains popped in and out of the clouds all day.

King penguins. 

Elephant seals not happy about being disturbed.

We had to walk through boggy moss.

After a Zodiac cruise around the shore we called it quits as it was raining too hard and we couldn't really see much.

After drying off and lunch we headed back out to Grytviken to see the whaling station and do a hike. We visited the museum and post office.  There were fur seal pups everywhere. We saw our first icebergs in the distance. 

**we have had a freaking good day and I have soooo many photos but the internet is crappy so I will just put a few of my favourites up**