The London-based merchant Anthony de la Roche is credited with the first sighting of South Georgia (by European explorers) in 1675. Early maps thereafter called it “Roche Island”. The famous Captain James Cook was the first documented explorer to land on the island, in 1775. He dubbed the island “not worth the discovery”, yet mapped and surveyed it anyway. He claimed it for Great Britain, and renamed it the Isle of George for British King George III. A system for the island’s government was not put in place until 1843.
South Georgia became a popular sealers base throughout the rest of the 1800s, and transformed into a whaling base for the first half of the 1900s. These stations were allowed to operate under leases approved by the British Governor of the Falkland Islands.
In 1909, South Georgia came to be governed as the Falkland Island Dependencies. Argentina claimed the island in 1927, but did not act on their claim until 1982, when the Falklands War was set off. Posing as scrap metal merchants, Argentines occupied an abandoned whaling station on South Georgia. The island was recaptured by the British less than a month later. A stop at South Georgia on an Antarctic cruise will reveal a very quiet set of islands.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
2 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
3 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
5 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.