So this is the day that all previous passengers were getting excited about. Steeple Jason is meant to be one of the best places to visit on South Georgia. And I can now see why. It was a glorious day with so much to see. After landing at 0745 I walked all of 10m and was mesmerised by all the Gentoo Penguins nesting. Their chicks are so cute. Little grey balls of fluff. There were penguins separated out into two location both quite close to each other. One near the water and the other up a slight hill. They waddle on by to and fro either coming in to feed their chicks or going out to feed, swim and clean themselves.
Tom found me and asked if I wanted to join him and a small group of people to walk to the far end of the albatross colony on the other side of the island. I decided to join him and we walked and walked and walked. We passed many Jonny Rooks, Skuas and Caracara’s. The vegetation on the island is lovely with lots of flowers out at the moment. When we rounded to corner and got our fist glimpse of the Black-browed Albatross colony, I was speechless. There are approx. 113000 breeding pairs on the island. We walked right to the far end of the colony and sat on the edge watching and photographing them. Behind us were Giant Petrel nests and some Skua’s with chicks. Mandeep and I stayed with Tom for a good 4 ½ hrs. When we decided to leave I went to put my lens cap on and dropped it and then like watching something in slow motion, watched it roll down the hill, over some rocks and into the nesting petrels. So bye bye lens cover!
Mandeep and I decided to go to the other end of the petrels and had to walk through head high tussock grass, hopelessly trying to not fall down a hole or get eaten by the grass. Eventually we popped out at the colony and then had to find a place to sit without disturbing the Petrels or Skuas who were also nesting there. We found a good place where we had nesting birds and flying birds as well. At 1430 we left and headed back to the landing site so we could watch the penguins coming in from the sea. It was hilarious. They are so fast in the water and then literally fly out of the water and onto the rocks. Some do it in style and others just crash into the rocks and either has to give it another go or hang on for dear life and try and claw their way back up the rocks. Watching them get into the water is just as funny as they try and walk in but nine times out of ten just fall face first into the water. Then it was back on the last zodiac at 1600 with dinner on at 1900.
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