FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 7 – South Georgia
March 11, 2013 by Susan Clarke
The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Hercules Bay
Day 38 – Friday, March 8 – South Georgia Islands – foggy, rainy morning followed by clearing skies – high 41 – sunrise 6:08 – sunset 7:11
- B – 5:30 – wakeup call over PA (need to start early because high winds are common @ 10 am)
- 1st expedition – 6:30 to 9:30 – Salisbury Plain – filled w/birds & seals as far as the eye can see – 2nd largest king penguin colony @ 80,000 – see lots of baby chicks sitting on the parents feet under a fold of skin – hundreds of fur seals & pups frolicking on the beach and in the glacier streams coming from the mountains – 10 ++ AAA rating
- B – load in the zodiac & huge wave soaks us as we are taking off
- 2nd expedition –10:30 to 11:30 – Prion Island – walk up planking surrounded by thick tufts of tussoc grass & rocks w/fur seals perched everywhere you look that match the rocks – top platform has view of nesting albatross – beach landing has Gentoos & 2 King Penguins (site limited to only 50 people at any time, so 2nd group comes @ 11:30)
- 3rd expedition – 4:00 to 5:15 – Hercules Bay – zodiac only tour – see icebergs, Macaroni penguins, waterfall, birds
Salisbury Plain
- 5:30 – happy hour
- 6:45 – recap & briefing from expedition team
- 7:15 – more happy hour before typical dinner
- 9:30 – more good music & songs in Panorama lounge
FF – (FUN-fact) – King penguins stand at 2 to 3 feet high and take over a year to raise their chicks. There are over 450,000 breeding pairs.
More FF – Our ship was hit by a rogue wave on January 12th that blew out the bridge window. Captain Adam has a huge scar over his right eye. He said, “It came out of nowhere from an odd position” when I asked him if he saw it coming. Hopefully that will be the only one. The weather had been very nice, even sun, no wind and calm seas. But there is a storm a brewing so we’re told for Monday.
Prion Island Seal Pups