Grytviken, Cumberland Bay , South Georgia

February 4, 2008

As we left Elephant Island in Antarctica from the exact same place that Shackleton left his men as he set out for South Georgia to find help, I couldn’t marvel at his bravery. Here we are in a huge beautifully equipped and comfortable sailing ship and there he was in a small lifeboat that his carpenter had made a rough wooden cover for! What a contrast.

We sailed for two days in the beautiful Scotia Sea…as smooth as glass…escorted all the way by huge…and I mean HUGE….icebergs. Bigger than the ship these bergs floated by us like silent abandoned cities. Where did these big bergs come from? And where are they going? Our onboard expert commented that he had once been with a colleague in a small plane when they decided to land and take off from one of these giant ice cubes. This is certainly the land of adventure.

Throughout our two days at sea we learned about our next port of call…South Georgia. This is the exact spot that Shackleton and his two or three companions arrived to find help for his men. Their actual landing spot was on the other side of the island and they had to endure three or four days of strenuous hike and climb over steep mountains to reach Grytyiken. Unbelievable

Grytyiken, a former whaling village is under the process of being returned to the purest and most pristine place that it can be. We sat through several different lectures and film strips, signed forms, and agreed to a stringent set of rules and regulations before we were allowed to leave the ship. It seems that we are very lucky to be going ashore. In an effort to preserve this special place there are few people allowed on the island…let alone large cruise ships….so we feel privileged.

We arrived to a snowy welcome. Pulling my draperies back I could see nothing….and then realized that it was snow! Thick white snow the size of quarters was blanketing the close mountain sides. The normal red roofs of the few buildings were white! I quickly made my way to the Lido deck on the 11th floor to see the snow up close and personal and to view the village from that perspective. How strange to see the pool and deck covered with snow…AND to see scores of the Indonesian crew playing like ten year olds….most of whom have never seen snow before. They were laughing and taking pictures…making snow balls and just having a good time. What fun!

Finally we made our way on shore, where the first order of business was to have our shoes scrubbed in some strong disinfectant to make sure that we were bringing nothing to the shore. We made three stops on our three hour visit…the small museum that showed the history of the island including the whaling industry as well as numerous artifacts and memorabilia of the various Antarctic expeditions including those of Shackleton and others. We visited the quaint church built in l917. It was in this church that the body of Shackleton laid in rest before his burial in the close-by cemetery. It seems that Shackleton had returned to South Georgia in 1922 aboard the HMS Quest hoping to circumnavigate Antarctica. He had suffered an apparent heart attack in Rio, the last stop before Grytviken, but characteristically refused medical treatment or examination. The night afater he arrived at South Georgia Island, he called the ships’ surgeon with complaints of chest pain. He suffered a massive heart attack and was buried in the small cemetery overlooking the harbor. Unlike others in the cemetery whose bodies were buried pointing east…Shackleton’s body was buried pointing South toward Antarctica.

Scientific work continues on South Georgia today under the control of the British. It is certainly one of those special places that few have had the chance to enjoy. And even though it was snowing we did indeed enjoy our short but informative stay in South Georgia.