Jan 23 and 24 - Sea Days

We had two days of sea travel as we headed for the South Georgia Islands. These are part of the Falklands from a control standpoint. They are also one of the main reasons we picked this cruise. As we travelled to so many places these last 6 years we kept asking people about their 'must see' locations. Again and again South Georgia was identified as one of their top choices by world travelers. That is one of the seasons we are on this wonderful adventure.

We actually stayed busy during our two days at sea. We had briefings morning and afternoon on bio security and penguins and birds and geology and history of the region. The South Georgia Islands battled a huge rat problem for several centuries - the creatures came on whaling ships and destroyed the ecosystem of small birds and penguins which lay eggs. They also spread disease across a broad range of animals. In 2014 a large project was started to eradicate the rodent population. The largest island is split into more than 5 regions separated by glaciers. Since rats can't cross glaciers they worked on each region one at a time - dropping poison bait in winter when many of the species had left the island but the rats remained - hungry. It only took a few years for each region to be clear of rodents and to remain clear for a full year. The recovery of the small birds and penguins was dramatic and very exciting. In obit a few year the pipin songbird was seen across the whole island.

Because of this rodent effort the bio security control teams check each ship with dogs that sniff for rodents. Our ship was clean and most high end ships have no problems. The challenge is the fishing boats that ply these waters with foreign crews and cheap labor. Those are checked very thoroughly.

They are also very careful about seeds and plants that might be carried on clothing and boots. Every item we were going to bring ashore was thorough checked for even tiny pieces of grass which could fall and grow quickly. Dandelions are an example of a plant accidentally brought to the island and is now spreading into many areas. As we all know dandelions are very tough to kill!

Overall the two days went smoothly and we had a wonderful meeting our shipmates who hale from around the world. We have a contingent from China so all of the announcements are repeated in Chinese. The food has been wonderful and we expect that to remain true throughout the voyage.

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