Into the Great Unknown

By Emma Healey

5 August 2024

I have dreamed of visiting Antarctica since I was a young girl. The mystery, excitement, and promise of penguins, seals, whales, icebergs and snowy landscapes was so enticing. The opportunity to visit came last November, and not only would I visit the Antarctic Peninsula, I would sail there via the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, arguably some of the most important, immersive and intense wildlife destinations in the world.

Boarding Plancius, our home for the next 18 days, the excitement was palpable among the 103 passengers and the expedition team. The Falklands was our first stop, and I was completely blown away … By the winds, yes (they can be quite strong at times), but also by the unexpected beauty at every turn. White sandy beaches, turquoise waters, tussock grass mounds lining the hills and huge penguin and albatross colonies bringing the islands to life. Being young when the war was on, I’d never really had the Falklands on my list, but I was amazed, and it left me wanting more. Rockhopper penguins and black-browed albatross were nesting, gentoo penguins were waddling from the sea across the sand to their colonies and one lone macaroni penguin was trying to disguise himself as a gentoo. We were lucky enough to see a couple of newly hatched gentoos right next to their eggs, which was gorgeous and hopefully the start of a successful breeding season.

Our next stop, after a couple of days at sea and a very thorough cleaning process of all our clothes and shoes, was South Georgia, and the excitement was building. As you start to approach the island, icebergs begin to appear, seemingly tiny until they are alongside the ship when we were able to marvel at the size and uniqueness of each one. The clouds lifted and above the icebergs the peaks of the South Georgia mountains appeared. As well as being steeped in history, with stories of Shackleton and his adventures, it's arguably one of the most incredible wildlife destinations. Fortuna Bay was a real ‘pinch me’ experience – walking on the land, around 10 minutes from the shore alongside fur seals, lots of young elephant seals, known as ‘weaners’ and small groups of penguins, you suddenly come face to face with a colony of king penguins that spans as far as you can see.

It’s overwhelming. The babies are at various stages, with some bigger than their parents, but still shouting for food and others starting to shed their baby feathers in a hilarious patchy looking adolescent phase. The noise, the smell and the sheer magnitude of penguins among the stunning mountains is an experience I will never forget. We made a number of stops on South Georgia and enjoyed some memorable Zodiac cruises, including a visit to St Andrew’s Bay, where again the sheer volume of penguins and seals was a sight to behold.

As well as Shackleton, South Georgia has a darker history involving the whaling and sealing period, which saw the decimation of a large number of the whale and seal population. One of the most encouraging things for me when visiting these now abandoned whaling stations, such as Grytviken and Stromness, is seeing the wildlife taking back the land, with seals draped over old ships and their rusty rudders. The great thing about going at this time of year is the volume of adorable fur seal pups among the harems of females littering the beaches, a couple of which were newly born. Our final treat in South Georgia was a pod of orca, which swam around us for about 15 minutes before moving into the distance.

The last stop on our adventure was Antarctica. The journey there was a little slower than planned due to some headwind, but we were kept entertained by our wonderful expedition crew regaling us with lectures showcasing both their knowledge of the area and wildlife, as well as stories such as surviving life on the Falkland Islands through Covid. Soon the landscape changed to much more of a monotonal blue and white, with black spots (penguins!). With three destinations in one journey, you couldn’t get more different landscapes and feelings.

The Antarctic Peninsula has a magical feeling of being untouched, and it was a privilege to be one of the few who has had the opportunity to walk on the continent. Here, penguins are in charge, with every landing having queues from the Zodiac to wait for a break in the penguin traffic so that we could cross. Weddell seals laze in the snow, turning position to try and get some warmth from the sun, and the Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins were nest building, so we had a lot of fun watching the cheeky males stealing stones from their neighbours to add to their piles while the others weren’t watching. At our final landing, we were delayed boarding the Zodiacs by a pod of humpback whales, very close to the ship. At one point, they were right next to us and came between us and one of the Zodiacs that was waiting to approach for boarding. What a way to finish – that is a delay I will never complain about!