19 February 2022 – Saturday – Godthul Bay and Grytviken Harbor

Photo Update coming soon.

Our plan was to get up at about 4:30, have a light breakfast, and then take a 5 am RIB ride onto Gold beach to see penguins and sunrise. Sheri, our expedition leader, announced around 4:20am that a beach landing was not possible, but the moon was up, dawn was breaking. and penguins were visible with binoculars. The wind gusts were as high as 72 knots! Nancy decided to stay in bed but I jumped up, dressed and climbed to the 8th floor to see the sights. There were lots of people already up and drinking coffee. I met Mark and we walked out on the bow. The wind was impressive. At one point I had to hang on just to be able to stand still without being blown backwards.  The view was quite beautiful around us. And when the wind wasn’t blowing, it felt warm. We wandered  in and out of the 8th floor on to the outside deck. The sun rose at 5:26. Since we weren’t going ashore, I decided to go back to bed. Sheri made her wake-up call at 7:45.

We were then brought to Godthul bay to do a bird hike. There were several options: a long fast hike to the top of a ridge; a slightly shorter hike with bird watching; an even shorter photo hike; or a beach walk. The real challenge that was not well explained was climbing uphill on mounds of tussock grass. The grass mounds look pretty and lumpy but they conceal big holes in between them as well as some slippery rocks.

Climbing uphill was a real challenge. Luckily the grass is quite strong so it it possible to grab a handful to help pull and balance as you choose where to plant your foot. At one point Nancy nearly disappeared in a hole. Luckily everyone around was very helpful. We were doing the bird walk. We saw about 3 birds flying and a small flock of Gentoo penguins. Thankfully the tussock grass ended in a relatively flat area that has a man made lake that had dammed water to use for hydro-power for what had been a small whaling station down by our landing site.

Our naturalist had hoped that there would be ducks in the lake. Unfortunately they were not there. But it was fun to watch the other hikers who climbed much higher than we did.

And then…we had to make our way down. Our guide brought us to a different area that seemed easier than the area we had climbed. There were some large drops between mounds but it was easy to sit down and just slide. The seals like to hang out in the mounds so it can be quite surprising to look up and see one very close by.

Towards the bottom we walked through a stream bed that was the outflow from the lake. Some of the rocks were quite slippery. The seals also were enjoying the water. They moved away as we approached although sometimes the very curious baby seals approach and try to play. We were told that getting close to any seal is dangerous. They can bite and their bite can cause quite an infection. So far, no one has been hurt. We also saw some of the barrels and equipment that had been left by the whaling operation as we walked along the stream. We were happy to return to the ship to have lunch and move on.

Our afternoon adventure was Grytviken harbor which is the site of Shackleton’s burial. It also has the rusted remains of what had been a very active whaling station. It has a whaling museum and a post office from which it is possible to send postcards to anywhere in the world. Some of you may get one from me…but I hear it takes a very long time!

Our group started our visit by assembling in the graveyard to “toast the boss”. Shackleton never discovered anything but he is considered heroic because his was extremely loyal to his crew. He brought everyone home from what had been a disaster in Antarctica. We were served Jameson’s Irish whiskey to raise a glass after which we were told to pour a few drops on his grave. It’s an old sea tradition to pour whiskey into a place for a tribute, I think.

We moved on to visit the rusted remains of the whaling factory. It reminded me in some places of Richard Serra’s huge outdoor sculptures. Of course the post office was popular for stamps and cards. Then the whaling museum showed much of what the whalers used for their hunt. They had a re-creation of what their bunks were like too. Life on South Georgia island required 12 hour days of processing whales for oil, meat, and meal. It was tough.

We returned to our ship for dinner. It is fascinating and sad to see how the whale population was decimated by whaling. Apparently it was extremely lucrative. Whaling ended in the 1960’s when other sources of oil were available for light, cosmetics and food processing. There was also pressure from the world to end the near extinction of these amazing creatures. Another day of adventure for us…