There is a wildlife spectacle waiting in South Georgia unlike anything you’ve seen before: tens of thousands of penguins crowding one beach, enormous elephant seals hauled-out on shore, and flocks of seabirds soaring above. Plus, in the Falklands, step foot on white-sand beaches which host their share of irresistible penguins. Get a glimpse of what it’s like to explore these rugged and remote islands and then plan to join us there this fall.
We are making alternate plans for our expeditions that call in Russia
Along with our longer forest hike and a photography walk this morning, we enjoyed beach explorations and kayaking in the bay. There were clams shooting streams of water, crabs walking around the sand, barnacles clinging to small rocks, and a pair of common loons and a sea otter floating about in the water. After lunch, we explored around the Keku Islands, looked for wildlife, and admired the scenery from expedition landing crafts. It rained much of the day, which made for a very authentic temperate rainforest experience and a great test of our gear!
After sailing overnight to our northernmost destination at 70 degrees north, we awoke to the stunningly charming town of Uummannaq. With only about 1,400 residents, this town is still the eighth largest town in all of Greenland. The colorful homes are dwarfed by the monolithic mountain of the same name that shoots up almost 4,000 feet above the town. While floating along the shores of Uummannaq, many of us piled on layers of clothing and headed out to the outer decks to enjoy the soaring fulmars, gulls, and guillemots in the area. More than anything, we were in awe of the massive icebergs floating by in close proximity to both the town and our ship. Their size, textures, infinite shades of blues, and even the sounds they projected were all mesmerizing to each of us. Soon after, we warmed up inside the ship while enjoying a talk by Sisse Brimberg, our National Geographic photographer. During her engaging talk, she shared stories and images of what it is like to be on assignment as a professional photographer. Our afternoon adventure provided a fascinating journey into Greenland’s past. A few days ago, we visited the National Museum of Greenland in the capital of Nuuk. One of the exhibits displayed several well-preserved mummies from over 500 years ago. Today we were able to launch Zodiacs, land at a rocky beach, and hike to the actual site where these mummies were discovered in 1972. Although we will never know the whole story of the women and children preserved at this site, the care with which they were preserved and adorned speaks volumes about the emotional connections people shared. During and after dinner, we continued to sail south with anticipation for tomorrow, our last full day on this big, beautiful green island!
This morning, National Geographic Sea Lion cruised past New Eddystone Rock on the way into Misty Fjords National Monument. New Eddystone Rock was named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver due to its likeness to the lighthouse off Plymouth, England. Misty Fjords National Monument is often referred to as the “Yosemite of the North” with its 3,000-foot-high granite cliffs, which were carved by glaciers over 17,000 years ago. The bridge team navigated into Rudyard Bay over breakfast, and the vessel made its way close to the back of the bay. As we cruised, it became obvious how this area got its name. The mountains around us were shrouded in a fine mist, making this picturesque landscape absolutely stunning. Towards the back of Rudyard Bay, there is a very narrow passage called Owl’s Pass. Owl’s Pass is named for the rock formation inside of it, which is a result of exfoliation. Arches formed in the granite wall give the appearance of an owl’s face. The Zodiacs took off through Owl’s Pass and explored the back of Rudyard Bay. Zodiac cruises were able to go right up to the waterfalls and make their way into the salmon stream, finding harbor seals along the way. After lunch, the vessel headed to Punchbowl Cove near the entrance to Rudyard Bay for the afternoon. Some of us explored this area from kayak, a few brave travelers explored by stand-up paddleboard, and some went out in a Zodiac to go a bit farther. As National Geographic Sea Lion cruised out of Misty Fjords National Monument and around Revillagigedo Island in the evening, we searched for wildlife as we continued north on our expedition. Today was a wonderful start to an incredible journey.
There is nothing that welcomes you to Alaska quite like a morning surrounded by humpback whales. The quiet and cool of the morning brought us a distant bright light, with more than a dozen whales dancing beneath it. Some of them were even kind enough to show us their flukes, in hopes that we could identify them later. The whales in this location were going for krill, which our captain could see in a distinctive band 150 feet below the surface. The whales swam coolly, making quick dives before moving to their next location. Our National Geographic photographer and certified photo instructors teamed up to help guests get the best images possible. On this photo expedition, much more time is dedicated to the art of photography, allowing our guests to be experiential learners. We made our way back toward Tracy Arm to begin our navigation to South Sawyer Glacier. The steep walls of granite were teeming with waterfalls, glacial striations, and glacial chatter marks, showing the power that water, fresh and frozen, can have on the landscape no matter how much time passes. The depth of the fjord, coupled with its well-polished perimeters, holds a striking resemblance to other places of natural wonder, such as Yosemite, for many of our explorers. The afternoon was spent experiencing the South Sawyer Glacier and learning more about glacier anatomy and dynamics from one of our naturalists on board. Guests were in awe of a beautiful major calving event, followed by various smaller calvings, a rockslide, and several playful seals. The dynamics of the glacial environment were alive and well! All of this was made even better by the addition of hot chocolate. We brought home a piece of ice to have a contest to see how long it would take to melt, bringing a bit of our glacier experience on board with us.
It is early morning with bright skies and a bit of wind. We are at Qeqertarsuaq, or the Large Island, the largest of Greenland’s nearshore islands. The island is better known as Disco Island to the rest of the world. The name comes from the Danish Diskoøen, meaning Disco Island since the island is shaped like a disk! A few large icebergs hang about, and the land looks both verdant and barren. There is less than a quarter mile of plain before a bluff is reached, its walls cut by cascades and waterfalls. The plain undulates slightly. The peaks are mostly covered with moss and lichens, and the valleys are blanketed with dwarf willows and birch. The scenery here is extraordinary! Swaths of cobbles collected by the ice are populated by rootless moss and lichens of various types and colors, and to the side we spot a Lilliputian forest of wood and herbs. We are in the Arctic, where the ice rules. Much of the land is covered in ice, and all of the earth is embedded in ice, or permafrost. Permafrost can move the rocks and collect them in one place. It can cause the land to slump when the wet, thin layer of summer-thawed earth slides over the permafrost below. You can see permafrost on the slopes. It looks like poorly solidified gelatin on a tilted tray. Every summer, the top of the permafrost (what we walk on) thaws. This is the active zone, where plant roots live. The land is unstable but certainly not unnatural. It is easily cleaved by water, creating canyons, cascades, and waterfalls. As we walk, we see the tracks of fox, reindeer, and geese. It is a wild place. In the afternoon, we take to the Zodiacs and explore a sea with sculptures of ice. Some are dirty, some clear. Some small, some huge. All are beautiful, and I might say magical. Today is another day, as new and wonderful as any day can be. Photo caption and photographer: Disco Island. Photo by Dennis Cornejo
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