Antarctic Quest

by Stephanie Holdenried

South Georgia is known for its unpredictable ways - its weather, its craggily coastline, its vast wildlife, its whaling and adventurer history. I'd heard about the beauty of South Georgia from a few different travelers and knew that if I was planning a trip to the Antarctic that I must also include visiting the island.

First glimpses of the island after three days at sea coming from the Falklands did not disappoint. South Georgia is one of the most beautiful and pristine wilderness areas I’ve ever been to. Snow-capped peaks in the distance with rocky outcrops and occasional sandy beaches at the shoreline.Wildlife abounds. The seals are loud and raucous; sea birds are dive bombing around the ship and zodiacs; the penguins are beguiling.

A stroll at Salisbury Plain amidst the cacophony of 10s of thousands of king penguins and their chicks is one of my life’s best days. I had to watch my step or nearly step on sleeping seals. South Georgia is the Serengeti of the Southern Ocean.

We had three days visiting the island. After a previous attempt to kayak near the old whaling station, Grytviken, was thwarted by high winds that literally pushed us backwards in the water until we were strewn around on rocks and a zodiac had to come pluck us back to the ship, we woke up to calm waters and clear skies at Gold Harbor. We raced through breakfast and virtually leapt into our kayaks eager to finally paddle after being at sea for over a week.

What happened after that I can only say will go down as my best day of kayaking ever. I was so excited for this opportunity to paddle on this gorgeous, warm and balmy day in a place that I’d read so much about and that was obviously teeming with wildlife. I could not wait to get out on the water.

We paddled from the middle of the harbor perpendicular to the long beach and then turned so that we were paddling parallel. The beach was littered with elephant seals, fur seals and King penguins. Penguins were swimming in from the sea and popping up on the beach. You couldn’t help but laugh as they sprang out of the water and then waddled up to join their friends. Seals and penguins porpoised under and around our boats. It was incredible.

The beauty of traveling by kayak is that you are able to glide along quietly - there’s no hum of an engine on your boat. You hear the bleat of the penguins and water gently lapping the sides of the kayak. You have all of your senses turned on as you’re needing to navigate, brace for incoming waves, and dodge wildlife – not to mention take in the incredible views of everything around you.

The sea was clear blue like the Mediterranean and there was no wind. I was hot and sweating in my drysuit. We surfed on huge swells off-shore as well as explored little inlets close-in. We eventually landed on shore, found a quiet place to sit, and just waited and watched penguins come to check us out.

Our trip continued from that high note on to the Antarctic Peninsula (another 3 days at sea) where a new completely different landscape of ice and snow awaited us. More to come on that!

To learn more about adventures in Antarctica like this and to see current dates and prices click here.

Stephanie Holdenried is an Adventure Specialist at Adventure Center and is available to answer your questions about travel to Antarctica, her toll free direct number is 1-877-285-0655 or her email address is stephanie at adventurecenter.com