After a beautiful sunrise, our day in South Georgia only got better! The sun continued to shine throughout the day and a light easterly wind onshore kept the temperatures nice and comfortable.

We began the day in Possession Bay, landing at a spot known as Brighton Beach. Many of us enjoyed a longer leg stretch along the shoreline with our brilliant naturalists, while some of us got to hone our photography skills with our resident National Geographic photographer, Sergio, and our National Geographic certified photo expert, Jeff. The area was full of fur seals and king penguins, with even a few nesting giant petrels on top of the many grassy hummocks behind the beach.

While we enjoyed another glorious lunch, we transited between many giant icebergs towards our afternoon landing spot, Fortuna Bay. The site is famous because it’s the end section of Shackleton’s epic hike, meaning many of us were excited to recreate it ourselves. While some of us trekked towards the saddle above Stromness Whaling Station in Shackleton’s footsteps, others enjoyed the sights and sounds of the large king penguin colony in Whistle Cove.

Following a beautiful and unforgettable landing in Fortuna Bay, we retired to our ship for an evening of cocktails, recaps, and a delicious dinner.