Day 12 –  Salisbury Plain

Remember a whole week ago when Salisbury Plain’s erratic weather threw a tantrum and blocked us from getting close to the second largest King Penguin rookery in the world and necessitated a premature departure? On this day, the universe had other plans and served as a blunt reminder that if you’re going to be out in the wild, you have to embrace the abrupt change of plans. It’s usually the detour that turns into the most beautiful experience.

It wasn’t until I actually set foot on South Georgia, that I truly understood the fervor surrounding its beauty. The mercurial ambiance offered a kaleidoscope of evolving light and shadow that one can capture a vast spectrum of moods in a short span of time.

We eventually returned for a final landing, an experience that now stands as my most memorable encounter. It left me wondering: had we spent another week and landed on St Andrews on a different day or been able to make some of the landings we missed, what other dramatic choreographies of light and landscape would I have been able to document?

As for Salisbury Plain, despite the snowstorm reducing the terrain to a literal mudpit, we managed to reach the rookery and able to position ourselves despite the deep slippery mud to capture the colony under a remarkable light. As for the history of which I wrote about here, Salisbury Plain, it remained untouched since our last visit; a constant I found relieving.

This was our warmhearted farewell before we hit the open sea for a nauseating journey back. Albatrosses and petrels tailed us as usual, nature’s way of signaling that the winds are picking up and we should brace ourselves. It was going to be a rocky ride to the rocks that had everyone on board buzzing.

Shag Rocks, a “must see” destination roughly 150miles off South Georgia on the way to the Falklands.  I went out to see what the fuss was about….more in the next post.