On to South Georgia

Icebergs—massive rocks of white as big as our boat, tinged with blue and brown, and that’s only the 10 – 15% of the berg that we can see. I’m in the Southern Ocean where it’s bluish-grey as far as one can see, with a little white foam spewing from the pleasantly rolling seas. Occasionally, Gentoo and King Penguins as well as Fur Seals pop up. Wandering Albatross, Blackbrowed Albatross, Antarctic Prions, Giant Petrels, and Subantarctic (Brown) Skuas span the skies and dive into sea. In the distance is Wilson Island, off the starboard side at 2 o’clock. It’s our first sighting of South Georgia. We’re seeing snowed covered mountains, mountains that were actually part of the Andes mountain range centuries ago. That’s when Antarctica and South America used to be part of the same continent. Millions of years ago, Gondwana land was comprised of Antarctica, South American, Australia, Asia and India.

The Southern Ocean from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia has been calm, unlike our first crossing from Ushuaia, Argentina eastward to the Falkland Islands almost a week ago. On that passage, I choose to get reacquainted with the sea using only my trusty grey bands, the bands the folks at Cheeseman’s Ecology Safaris nixed from the packing list in lieu of high tech pulsated wristbands, or other remedies for seasickness which most other passengers were using. Maybe having recently been on the Pelegian in Sulawesi Indonesia reminded my body what it takes to be at sea so I didn’t get sick. Winds were getting up there on the Beaufort Scale—to number eight.