This morning we awoke to another beautiful day in South Georgia and we were all adamant to make the most of it!
Forty brave souls departed the ship just after breakfast, following in Ernest Shackleton’s footsteps hiking over a huge mountain range from Fortuna Bay to Stromness. The hiking was difficult, over very rocky and uneven terrain, but once the team reached their maximum altitude of just under 3000 ft they quickly forgot about their sore legs and marveled at the spectacular view of Stromness that stretched out in front of them.
The rest of us visited the old whaling station in Stromness while we waited for the hikers to complete their epic journey. We were greeted on the beach once again by the many cute fur seal pups and marveled at the huge propellers and other historical artifacts that lay abandoned here.
During lunch Captain Martin repositioned the ship into Grytviken harbour, the only inhabited part of South Georgia. Sarah, one of the resident scientists, joined us on the ship and gave us a fascinating presentation on their very successful pest eradication program that has almost been completed.
After Sarah’s presentation we all headed ashore and gathered around Shackleton’s gravesite to pay our respects to this great man. A beautiful toast was given by our naturalist and historian Tom Ritchie, and we all raised our glasses of Shackleton whiskey to the boss.
We spent the next few hours exploring the ruins of the old whaling station at Grytviken. The museum was a highlight for most with its unique exhibits of whaling memorabilia and a replica of the small boat, the James Caird, which Shackleton navigated 800nm from Elephant Island to South Georgia.
The sun began to drop behind the surrounding mountains but our day wouldn’t be complete without one last surprise. Our sister ship, the National Geographic Explorer, soon appeared on the horizon and both ships navigated side by side into Jason Harbour, where we anchored for the night.
After dinner we welcomed the guests from our sister ship on board for dessert and a tour of our beautiful ship and had the opportunity to visit their ship as well. Many comparisons were made but all agreed these have to be the two finest expedition ships afloat.
