In the morning, we reached King Haakon Bay of South Georgia. All of our guests were very excited to see this remote and well known land. Right in front of the ship there were steep slopes covered by huge clumps of tussock grass. Among these slopes there was a tiny opening leading to a little cove with a gravel beach. This opening was so narrow that later during Zodiac cruising, only a single Zodiac could enter it at a time. Here, Shackleton with several of his crewmates came ashore after many days crossing the Southern Ocean in a small rowboat. Numerous sparkling white icebergs could be seen all around. Guests were offered Zodiac cruising, and although the wind was quite strong (sometimes gusting to 30 knots) everyone was eager to see this wonderland, and nobody skipped cruising.
In the afternoon, National Geographic Endurance turned the northwestern corner of South Georgia. We passed Bird Island with numerous species of birds in the air and on the ground. The island was surrounded by magnificent volcanic cliffs.
After an early lunch, the ship found a sheltered spot called Elsehul, and a second round of Zodiac cruising was offered. The shorelines were stuffed with elephant seals, southern fur seals, gentoo and king penguins, nesting albatrosses, and many other species of birds. Male elephant seals were fighting here and there and penguins were porpoising in water around Zodiacs. It was incredible!
