Two mountain ranges, the Allardyce and Salvesen, outline the elegant and boisterous landscape of South Georgia. It is lengthy and narrow: 170km-long and varies from 2 to 40 kilometers wide. In austral summer, over 75% of the land is covered in fantastic glaciers, ice caps, and snowfields. South Georgia's history is shadowed by the 1.2 million seals that were slaughtered between 1786 and 1825. Fur seals, valued for their dense skins, were nearly driven to extinction. A hundred years later, the whaling industry took over the region until the mid-1960s. Today, the wildlife of South Georgia flourishes. The fur seals that were on the verge of being completely destroyed now populate the island at over three million. Best viewing of these sea mammals is on the northwest coast of the island. Landing, however, during the breeding season is sometimes difficult because of the vast numbers. But just witnessing the animals in such impressive numbers is an experience in itself. Whalers introduced reindeer to the island in 1911. About 2000 still exist in the area today.
A variety of seabirds also make South Georgia their home. Five million pairs of macaroni penguins nest along the coastline. The gravel beaches at St. Andrews Bay are ideal breeding places for the large King penguins. Comparable in size are the albatross that nest on the south and southeast shores. Two unique birds are also found in this region: the South Georgia pipit is Antarctica's only songbird, and the South Georgia pintail is the world's only meat-eating duck.
We have used Adventure Life Travel before and we where impressed with the outcome of their handling of our travel arrangements. So we are using them again on this vacation. Tilly has been very helpful and we put our complete confidence in her! We feel very comfortable using Adventure Life.
Jerry Hatley
7 hours ago
Erin was responsive, knowledgeable, helpful, and ran through a few different choices with us. She got us a fabulous price on a trip, and made everything easy to do. And QUICK!!
Tina
1 day ago
Excellent trip saw much more than would have seen with out Adventure Life's help.
Anonymous traveler
3 days ago
Erin made things easier than I thought possible. So good at answering questions in a timely manner and explaining all. I feel she looks out for me.
Fran Folkman
3 days ago
Very personable and knowledgeable! Able to answer questions and provide advice based on personal experiences.