Our welcome to South Georgia by king penguins.
On March 19th, after eight nights and seven and a half days of
sailing we arrived in South Georgia. Compared to the world of rocks,
ice and snow in South Shetlands and Antarctica, it seemed like a
green paradise. Far from tropical, it was still a harsh landscape
with rocky mountains, glaciers and no trees, but the lower altitudes
were covered with grass and moss, which gave the island a friendlier
appearance.
Fur seals on the tussock grass.
Fur seal pups were playing in the water and on the beaches, or
resting on top of patches of tussock grass. Penguins waddled in
between, elephant seals lay in big groups and made burping sounds on
the beaches, albatrosses, petrels and other sea birds flew around,
all busy in their own activities. Overall, wildlife was even more
abundant as it had been in Antarctica, and there were some new
species and more youngsters to see. In Antarctica, the breeding
season had already finished at this time of the year, but in
slightly warmer South Georgia it was still going on.
A penguin highway.
We had a wonderful welcome by king penguins, who swam to our ship
in large numbers curious to see who were coming for a visit. Shortly
afterwards we had our first landing at Right Whale Bay and were able
to observe them on land too. Unlike smaller penguins, king penguins
live on the island all year around and don't all lay their eggs at
the same time, so we were able to see their offspring in all stages
of development. There were mothers taking care of tiny chicks and
brown fluffy youngsters already walking around on their own, between
thousands of bright white-orange-grey colored adults.
A king penguin mother with her chick.
The following day at Salisbury Plain we visited an even larger king
penguin colony and had our first experience of the terrain. Due to
large swell we couldn't land at the main beach but had to search for
a more protected spot around the corner. From there, it was a 2 km
walk to the colony over tussock grass and along the beach. The
grass, which looked like a green mat from the distance, consisted of
big patches with mud in between. Seals were lurking in every
direction, some of them still mothers feeding their pups, which made
it a small challenge to find our way through. Sandra and I didn't
mind, for us the walk to the colony and back was as interesting as
the colony itself.
Sandra and Isabel having a quiet moment at a lake.
Our first day in South Georgia was cloudy and partly rainy, but
during the following five days we were lucky and had sunny weather.
The sunshine made the mosses on the ground shine in various shades
of green and the landscapes were magnificent. We did a few hikes
which brought us a couple of kilometers inland and to lookout points
up to about 300 meters of altitude. Almost all the wildlife was
concentrated near the sea, so it was quite a difference between the
busy and noisy shores and the calm, quiet inland. We walked in a
group but had many breaks and it was possible to sometimes stay a
bit behind to enjoy the silence.
