FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 9 – South Georgia
March 13, 2013 by Susan Clarke
The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration
Day 40 –Sunday, March 10 – South Georgia Islands – heavy cloud cover w/patches of blue sky & sun turning to snow – high 38 – sunrise 6:08 – sunset 7:02
Godthul
Grytviken Church
- 8:00 – wakeup call over PA
- 8:15 – typical cappuccino/ breakfast
- A – no wind
- 1st expedition – 9:00 to 12:00 – Godthul – a bay about one mile long
- 9:30 – in no hurry, depart on last Zodiac
- 9:40 – arrive & stay in zodiac for iceberg tour in bay
- 10:10 – start hike up hill – big clumps of tussock grass very hard to maneuver for first 10 mins
- A – fur seals & molting gentoos perched on grass & hill
- 10:40 – arrive top for view of huge lake & small pond – stark rocky terrain w/low grass, mushrooms, some flowers
- 11:30 – arrive back to zodiac & light snow
- 12:00 – typical lunch
- 2nd expedition – 2:30 to 4:00 – Grytviken – only “town” on South Georgia – has church, museum, gift shop & post office – settlement was founded in 1904 as a whaling station & closed in 1962 –175,250 whales were processed @ whaling stations on South Georgia
- Ernest Shackleton buried here in small cemetery
- 6:30 – happy hour
- C – special on board guests from British Antarctic Survey (they have research station here) – meet Rod, Hugh, Paula & have dinner with both Rod & Hugh – Rod is the postman & Hugh is the director in charge of operations
FF – (FUN-fact) – Tussock grass forms a stool with a dense crown of leaves growing to 3 ft in diameter and over 6 feet high.
More FF – South Georgia is about 100 miles long and (1 to 24 miles) wide with no permanent residents. It has over 160 glaciers and half of the island is covered with ice and permanent snow.
