Falklands & South Georgia

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands provide a rare opportunity to witness the biological diversity and extraordinary scenery of the southern islands. Penguins and Albatross are abundant here and the Falklands have the world’s largest black Browed Albatross colony. Port Stanley provides an opportunity to meet the hardy local inhabitants whose colourful houses contrast with the long dark winters. Now with a human population of only 2491, the islands are the first stop on this epic journey. Catch your first glimpses of penguins, including the Magellanic, Rockhopper, Macaroni, Gentoo, and King penguins. With a little luck, you may also see elephant seals, sea lions, king cormorants, black-browed albatross, skuas, night herons, giant petrels, striated caracaras and of course sheep.

South Georgia

South Georgia Island is home to many marvels including Shackleton’s Grave, some former whaling stations, incredible scenery and prolific wildlife. A huge King Penguin colony is the highlight of this part of the journey. On nearby islands, perhaps spot wandering albatross in their nesting grounds.
Known for its brutal whaling and exploratory history, this 170km long x 40km wide island is considered the gateway to Antarctica and was the centre of the huge Southern Ocean whaling industry from 1904 to 1966. Capt. James Cook was the first to land on South Georgia on January 17, 1775 and named the island after King George III. During the 62 years of whaling activities, any number between 183 whales the first year and the record 7825 whales in 1925-26 season were killed annually for their oil. A total of 498,870 seals - mostly giant elephant seals - were also slaughtered. Since the end of whaling activities 40 yeares ago wildlife has slowly returned to the island. Today the Island’s wildlife is extraordinary, not only in its variety, but also for its sheer abundance. South Georgia is home to roughly 300,000 elephant seals, 3 million fur seals and 25 species of breeding birds, including Wandering Albatrosses. The gravel beach at St. Andrews Bay has a King Penguin rookery of 100,000 and an estimated 5 million Macaroni Penguins. The British explorer Sir Ernest H Shackleton landed at King Haakon Bay on the southwest coast after the 800-mile journey in a 20-foot open boat from Elephant Island. They proceeded to hike the ice covered mountainous terrain, arriving at Stromness whaling station on May 20, 1916. Shackleton returned to South Georgia in 1922 for one last assault on Antarctica but passed away after suffering a heart attack and was buried at the whaler’s cemetery at Grytviken station.