Elsehul, South Georgia
How do you imagine the unimaginable? How do you describe the indescribable? How do you express the inexpressible?
For the past six days we’ve experienced the best of South Georgia, and we’ve seen it in every kind of weather. From a calm, cool, crisp, clear morning before sunrise, to katabatic winds that took your breath away. From mist and snow and driving rain and sleet that stung our face, to bright sunshine that made our cheeks rosy and warmed out hearts. From 4-ton elephant seals jousting at point-blank range, to inquisitive king penguins looking up at you as if to say, “who are you and why are you here?”
Today, our last day exploring this island in the middle of the wind-swept Southern Ocean aboard the National Geographic Explorer, we were eye-to-eye with gray-headed and light-mantled sooty albatross at water level from Zodiacs in Elsehul. And for the intrepid hikers who braved the winds for a hike through the treacherous tussock grass, high on a cliff we looked down upon the albatross as they glided effortlessly on the wing, circling again and again before landing back at their nest. If only we could fly too. Arriving back at the beach to find elephant and fur seals staking out their territory, it was indeed a hike with a happy ending.
But perhaps best of all, was a sighting of our fifth penguin species of the voyage – the elusive macaroni penguin. Although difficult to see through the fog and mist that shrouded the Willis Islands at the extreme western end of South Georgia, the Captain skillfully nosed the ship as close to the rocks as he would dare. So close, in fact, that would could here endemic South Georgia pipits singing above the sound of the crashing surf.
The islands quickly disappeared into the mist as we sailed away on a course back to the Falkland Islands. It will take a long time to digest and understand all that we’ve seen and experienced in the past six days. And it may take just as long to process all the images we made. But it may take a lifetime or forever to express the inexpressible.
