Fortuna Bay to Stromness /Grytviken
It’s not always easy to understand the complexities of a story without being in the moment. Today was no different, even despite the fact that we had a chance to follow in the author’s footsteps. This morning, 78 guests and crew of the National Geographic Explorer watched from the shores of Fortuna Bay as our ship slipped out of view, leaving three and a half miles, a mountain pass, a lake and a waterfall between us and an abandoned whaling station at Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island.
The moment we were trying to recreate happened 96 years ago when three men by the names of Shakleton, Crean and Worsley crossed those same three and a half miles and more, fell in that same lake (Crean specifically) crossed that same pass, went down the same waterfall and ended at the same station, all with a very different end goal in mind.
Our goal was to reconnect with our ship, the National Geographic Explorer as it rounded the east coast of South Georgia to pick us up again. Their goal was to reconnect with the 22 men they left behind at Elephant Island a few weeks earlier. We have all been briefed over the past few days on the specifics of their journey: hurricane force winds, glacier crossings, near hypothermia, wrong turns, deep snow, the weak ice which Crean fell through, etc, etc. Our humble attempt at living a moment of their journey was different all together. If the two pairs of shorts worn during the hike were not evidence enough, the deep blue skies and snow-free route over the pass solidified the comparative ease of our three and a half mile experience compared to theirs. Another distinction would be that the station was occupied in 1916, providing these three with much needed refuge and a resource through which to attempt a rescue mission back to Elephant Island.
While Stromness is no longer occupied we spent the second half of our day with a few hardy souls who call the old whaling grounds of Grytviken home for part of the year. A defunct whaling station in itself, Grytviken is now a British Antarctic Survey research site in addition to the final resting place of our aforementioned hero, Sir Ernest Shakleton. Our first stop in this well protected anchorage was to the local cemetery to pay homage to the “Boss” himself. Buried here in the 1920’s, Sir Ernest’s remains now enjoy a healthy dose of kind words and strong booze during the tourist season as we pay homage with thoughts and a toast (to be completed by pouring our remaining libations on his grave). This salute was followed by a humbling stroll through the remaining structures of Grytviken, built collectively by Norwegian captain Carl Anton Larsen and crew in 1904 as the first whaling station in Antarctic waters. 61 years and 175,000 whales later, whaling operations ceased in South Georgia giving these cetaceans a chance to recover after their brutal exploitation.
With our minds straining to grasp the rawness of South Georgia’s short cultural history there was no denying a significant human presence. And, while our footprint was physically much lighter than the whaler’s, and historically less significant than those of Shakleton and his men, our experience was one we are not soon to forget.
It’s not always easy to understand the complexities of a story without being in the moment. Today was no different, even despite the fact that we had a chance to follow in the author’s footsteps. This morning, 78 guests and crew of the National Geographic Explorer watched from the shores of Fortuna Bay as our ship slipped out of view, leaving three and a half miles, a mountain pass, a lake and a waterfall between us and an abandoned whaling station at Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island.
The moment we were trying to recreate happened 96 years ago when three men by the names of Shakleton, Crean and Worsley crossed those same three and a half miles and more, fell in that same lake (Crean specifically) crossed that same pass, went down the same waterfall and ended at the same station, all with a very different end goal in mind.
Our goal was to reconnect with our ship, the National Geographic Explorer as it rounded the east coast of South Georgia to pick us up again. Their goal was to reconnect with the 22 men they left behind at Elephant Island a few weeks earlier. We have all been briefed over the past few days on the specifics of their journey: hurricane force winds, glacier crossings, near hypothermia, wrong turns, deep snow, the weak ice which Crean fell through, etc, etc. Our humble attempt at living a moment of their journey was different all together. If the two pairs of shorts worn during the hike were not evidence enough, the deep blue skies and snow-free route over the pass solidified the comparative ease of our three and a half mile experience compared to theirs. Another distinction would be that the station was occupied in 1916, providing these three with much needed refuge and a resource through which to attempt a rescue mission back to Elephant Island.
While Stromness is no longer occupied we spent the second half of our day with a few hardy souls who call the old whaling grounds of Grytviken home for part of the year. A defunct whaling station in itself, Grytviken is now a British Antarctic Survey research site in addition to the final resting place of our aforementioned hero, Sir Ernest Shakleton. Our first stop in this well protected anchorage was to the local cemetery to pay homage to the “Boss” himself. Buried here in the 1920’s, Sir Ernest’s remains now enjoy a healthy dose of kind words and strong booze during the tourist season as we pay homage with thoughts and a toast (to be completed by pouring our remaining libations on his grave). This salute was followed by a humbling stroll through the remaining structures of Grytviken, built collectively by Norwegian captain Carl Anton Larsen and crew in 1904 as the first whaling station in Antarctic waters. 61 years and 175,000 whales later, whaling operations ceased in South Georgia giving these cetaceans a chance to recover after their brutal exploitation.
With our minds straining to grasp the rawness of South Georgia’s short cultural history there was no denying a significant human presence. And, while our footprint was physically much lighter than the whaler’s, and historically less significant than those of Shakleton and his men, our experience was one we are not soon to forget.
