If you don’t know about the “Heroic Age of Exploration” of the Antarctic, it’s an interesting period as Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton raced to the South Pole in the early 1900’s. Amundsen won the race, Scott died trying, but it was Ernest Shackleton’s attempt to cross the continent that is most memorable – a desperate story of survival and leadership. 

We followed his evacuation route from the Weddell Sea, to Elephant Island, then 800 miles to South Georgia Island through what are typically the worst winds and seas in the world. But he did it in a 16 foot life boat, we were a little more comfortable. I won’t take any more time on it here, but it is worth your research (or find one of the numerous documentaries) – a fascinating story.

South Georgia Island was the stop all our nature lovers longed for. Originally an important stop for whalers on the way to the Antarctic, it now is a preserve with thousands of seals, birds, and penguins – actually hundreds of thousands of king penguins (second in size to the emperor penguins you might have seen in “March of the Penguins” – also recommended).  We stopped at the old whaling station Shackleton finally reached, and retraced some of his steps to a waterfall named after him.

The mountains Shackleton climbed to safety.

Abandoned whaling station

Hike to Shackleton Falls

The highlight of the trip was St. Andrew’s Bay – the largest king penguin colony – best photographed at sunrise. Unfortunately, in January, that’s 4:30AM.  So for the sake of you blog fans, I (and by I – I mean Debra was sleeping comfortably) did my duty and had a great morning on the beach watching the elephant seals and penguins. They so rarely see humans that they aren’t even afraid of us, so it was a photo-rich environment.  I could only cut my collection down to 13 pictures:

The elephant seals do more chest bumping than the NFL

Kids trying to imitate dads.

While the pups played.

Not everyone wakes up the same

Slow to wake up, even in the water

Some hangovers were evident

200,000 strong

Watching the sunrise

Second row had to crane their necks to see the sunrise

Morning stretch

Some hate the morning

Some love the morning

Then off to fish

After four days in South Georgia, we crossed through rough seas to the Falkland Islands. Again the weather cooperated and we hiked to a spectacular albatross colony for some views and shots.

Albatross chick and egg

Colony in Falklands

West Point Falklands

Mamma and chick

Then, at long last, we sailed to northern Argentina and warm weather. A month of amazing vistas, wildlife and unique experiences, but we’re ready for some warm weather!

A video – only if you’re into creatures (3 minutes):