South Georgia in Depth 2017 Day-by-Day and Top 20

For a quick look at my favourite 20 photos click on the icon directly below.
For the story of the trip, day by day, click on the thumbnails to open each day's gallery in turn.

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Top 20 Photos
An arbitrary collection of some of my favourite photographs from this expedition



Days 1-3: Stanley and Travel
The trip proper started at Stanley on the Falkland Islands, where we have a couple of hours to look round before we boarded our ship, the Akademik Sergei Vavilov. Travel time to South Georgia was a little under three days.        Day 4: Stromness
On arrival at South Georgia the wind was too strong for us to launch our Zodiacs, so we sailed further down the coast where we had good views of the disused whaling stations in Stomness Bay.        Day 5: Jason Harbour
Our first landing gave up close views of king penguins and other birds, fur seals and elephant seals.

Day6: Salisbury Plain and Prion Island
Salisbury Plain is home to one of the largest king penguin colonies in the world. We were able to observe chicks as well as full grown birds. Elephant seals and fur seals were also much in evidence again. Prion Island is well known for its nesting wandering albatross.        Day 7: Grytviken and St Andrew's Bay
Every cruise ship must register its preesence with the Authorities at Grytviken. Visits here include a tour of the disused whaling station, the museum and a visit to the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton. St Andrew's Bay is home to another enormous colony of king penguins.        Day 8: St Andrew's Bay at Dawn and Royal Bay
We returned to St Andrew's Bay to witness the dawn rising over the sea and spend more time with the king penguins. Later we visited Royal Bay, where we saw maraconi penguins.

Day 9: Larsen Harbour and Cooper Bay
We took a zodiac cruise round Larsen Harbour, and then had another cruise round Cooper Bay, where we saw our first chinstrap penguin colony. We also saw other species of penguins in addition to pippits and pintails. There were light mantelled albatross nesting in the cliffs above.        Day 10: Fortuna Bay
Our last day on South Georgia was spent walking to and from the king penguin colony at Fortuna Bay, in quite heavy rain. We came across a vagrant juvenile Magellanic penguin on the way to the colony, and many fur seals. Following this we had a leisurely sail up the coast of South Georgia before setting course once more for the Falkland Islands.        Day 13: Sea Lion Island
Two and a half days later we arrived back at the Falkland Islands and had a Zodiac Landing on Sea Lion Island.

Day 14: Bleaker Island
The following morning we landed on Bleaker Island, home to rockhopper penguins and large numbers of imperial and rock shags. The rest of the day was spent housekeeping on board the Vavilov. We docked at Stanley at dawn the following day, to start the long and tedious journey home.



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		Top 20 Photos An arbitrary collection of some of my favourite photographs from this expedition

Days 1-3: Stanley and Travel The trip proper started at Stanley on the Falkland Islands, where we have a couple of hours to look round before we boarded our ship, the Akademik Sergei Vavilov. Travel time to South Georgia was a little under three days.		Day 4: Stromness On arrival at South Georgia the wind was too strong for us to launch our Zodiacs, so we sailed further down the coast where we had good views of the disused whaling stations in Stomness Bay.	Day 5: Jason Harbour Our first landing gave up close views of king penguins and other birds, fur seals and elephant seals.
Day6: Salisbury Plain and Prion Island Salisbury Plain is home to one of the largest king penguin colonies in the world. We were able to observe chicks as well as full grown birds. Elephant seals and fur seals were also much in evidence again. Prion Island is well known for its nesting wandering albatross.		Day 7: Grytviken and St Andrew's Bay Every cruise ship must register its preesence with the Authorities at Grytviken. Visits here include a tour of the disused whaling station, the museum and a visit to the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton. St Andrew's Bay is home to another enormous colony of king penguins.	Day 8: St Andrew's Bay at Dawn and Royal Bay We returned to St Andrew's Bay to witness the dawn rising over the sea and spend more time with the king penguins. Later we visited Royal Bay, where we saw maraconi penguins.
Day 9: Larsen Harbour and Cooper Bay We took a zodiac cruise round Larsen Harbour, and then had another cruise round Cooper Bay, where we saw our first chinstrap penguin colony. We also saw other species of penguins in addition to pippits and pintails. There were light mantelled albatross nesting in the cliffs above.		Day 10: Fortuna Bay Our last day on South Georgia was spent walking to and from the king penguin colony at Fortuna Bay, in quite heavy rain. We came across a vagrant juvenile Magellanic penguin on the way to the colony, and many fur seals. Following this we had a leisurely sail up the coast of South Georgia before setting course once more for the Falkland Islands.	Day 13: Sea Lion Island Two and a half days later we arrived back at the Falkland Islands and had a Zodiac Landing on Sea Lion Island.
Day 14: Bleaker Island The following morning we landed on Bleaker Island, home to rockhopper penguins and large numbers of imperial and rock shags. The rest of the day was spent housekeeping on board the Vavilov. We docked at Stanley at dawn the following day, to start the long and tedious journey home.

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