It is hard to believe that on our voyage so far, today might be the day that weather would interfere with our potential landing. Weather is the unknown card in the deck, and you never know when it might turn up in your hand, was today the day?
No, I’m just creating a little tension in the narrative. We are on an expedition, we are not about to let a little rain and wind interfere with our first landing at Cooper Bay, on the famed South Georgia Island. It may dampen our rain gear but not our sprits as we board our Zodiacs and head for shore.
Speaking of tension, you can feel it rising as the Zodiac hits the shoreline and the first thing we see is a gauntlet of staff making a safe path for us between competing male fur seals. We discover South Georgia Island is going to make us earn our prize as we climb up a short but steep hill to the top of the ridge. There we make our way through the tussock grass, growing on tuffs of soil. Ever watchful for a resting fur seal, or a nesting penguin, we make our way to the main penguin colony.
The effort was well worth the sight that was before our eyes. Hidden in the grass, it’s difficult to see the penguins until you are almost on them. However, once you find them, they seem to be almost everywhere. The macaronis are colorful penguins with bright yellow feathers on the top of their heads. Adorable might be used when describing the little gems. After we have our fill, we head back to the NG Resolution.
If the rain did not interfere with our hike to the penguins, it was not going to interfere with viewing the magnificent scenery of the Drygalski Fiords. The Resolution is particularly suited for viewing as our Deck 8 is just about all windows and allows us uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape.
