South Georgia Island South Atlantic Ocean

South Georgia: 250,000 King Penguins and Two Days Across the Drake Passage to Reach Them

There is no airport on South Georgia. No hotels. No restaurants. Getting here requires booking an expedition cruise from Ushuaia or Stanley, paying somewhere between USD 10,000 and 20,000 for the trip, and then enduring two to three days crossing the Drake Passage in whatever sea state the Southern Ocean provides. Most people will not go. That is a reasonable position. For the people who do, South Georgia consistently delivers experiences that are not available through any other accessible means on Earth.

The Wildlife, Without Hyperbole

Salisbury Plain holds one of the largest king penguin colonies on the planet, approximately 250,000 birds at peak season. Standing among them is loud, carries a specific smell, and is completely surreal. King penguins are 90 centimetres tall, they are entirely indifferent to human presence, and they move through the colony at a pace and direction determined by no logic you can identify. The photography is not a challenge.

St Andrews Bay has larger numbers: an estimated 400,000 king penguins during breeding season, plus tens of thousands of southern elephant seals hauled out on the beach. Male elephant seals reach up to 2,200 kilograms – about the size of a mid-range car – and produce a sound somewhere between belching and barking when disturbed. Both species will approach you if you stay still.

Wandering albatrosses nest at Prion Island and Bird Island. Their wingspan reaches 3.5 metres, the largest of any living bird. Watching one land is an undignified process involving extended skidding and considerable wing adjustment that somehow does not diminish the overall impression.

Grytviken

The abandoned Norwegian whaling station at Grytviken is the island’s main human landmark. Rusting iron tanks, collapsed roofs, machinery half-buried in tussock grass. There is a small museum covering both the whaling era and the 1982 Falklands War, during which Argentine forces briefly occupied South Georgia before the British retook it. Ernest Shackleton is buried in the cemetery here: his grave is marked simply, alongside his navigator Frank Wild, and the walk to it carries weight that the more famous parts of his story sometimes obscure. He died on South Georgia in January 1922, returned here by his own request.

The South Georgia Museum shop sells souvenirs and, more usefully, stamps from one of the world’s most remote post offices.

Practical Matters

The Antarctic summer runs November through March. November brings penguin courtship displays and elephant seal pup births. January and February have the most light and the warmest temperatures, typically 5 to 10 degrees Celsius above zero. March catches late-season wildlife activity with fewer visitors.

Expedition ships carry Zodiacs for shore landings and guides on every excursion. You do not go ashore unaccompanied; conservation rules are strict and enforced by the South Georgia government. Pack waterproof trousers, gumboots (often provided by the ship), serious layers, and a camera with a telephoto lens. Wind can be extreme.

When choosing an operator, the guide-to-passenger ratio and the number of days actually spent at South Georgia (as opposed to in transit) are the variables that most affect the quality of the experience. A good trip should give you four to five days on the island. Operators that rush through in two days are not delivering the same experience.