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25.02.2016: Day 13 - Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands)
Our wake up call came at 04-45 and, after saying Happy Birthday to Kirsten, I dived under the shower. The crew were already out in a zodiac scouting out whether we would be able to land at Saunders Island. After a careful survey, Jim decided that, although conditions were challenging, with caution we could do it!
Since the year 2000 only 362 people have seen South Sandwich Islands and, of those, only 139 went on land but it is not known on which island. Could we be the first this century to land on Saunders Island? At the very least, if we managed to land we would almost double the amount of people who have landed this century! It would be a fantastic 50th birthday for Kirsten.
Thijs announced that the landing would be a go and Group Alpha (that's us!) would be boarding the zodiacs at 05-30. The birthday girl dashed up to the bar to get us some juice and pastries and we hustled to get ready and in the queue. There would only be 6 passengers per zodiac and an extra crew member would be with us to help get us in and out.
We managed to get into the zodiac without a problem. It was cloudy but visibility was good and we only had wind speeds of 2 knots. The problem was with the landing on the beach because of the high waves. It was quite dramatic. Our driver, Christian, had to wait to time the approach with the waves. Staff were waiting for us. Tobias and Ab were in their dry suits, assisted by Nacho, Jim and Ali in waders, catching and turning the zodiacs as we came surfing in on the waves, so that we could disembark safely.
We all got out fast and ran up the beach. Phew!! We made it on land! Definitely something special for the birthday girl! We took videos of the next zodiacs arriving and the huge effort the crew and staff made just to get us on land. Amazing! (We heard later that some passengers fell into the sea when their zodiac was hit by a wave as they were getting out. Their life jackets inflated!)
Carol was waiting to collect our life jackets and told us that Ali had expertly negotiated a route through the wildlife and up the ashen slope of the volcanic island. We just had to follow the line of flags. However, there were a lot of large male fur seals that can be quite aggressive so we had to be careful.
We set off in groups so that there were more of us to fend off the fur seals! Our strategy worked and only a few came towards us with open mouths. Once they got within 3 metres however they just turned around. There were also elephant seals, lots of Chinstrap penguins hunting for their chicks and we finally got to see some Macaroni penguins! The Giant petrels and skuas waiting for the moment to strike were also present and one had a very red neck from a recent kill.
Over one and a half million Chinstraps breed on the South Sandwich Islands, and the birds are the undisputed rulers of the beaches and the volcanic hills of these most remote islands. The scenery was quite dramatic as the island is an active volcano. We could see the lava flows that had now cooled down but there was smoke billowing into the grey skies above.
We followed the line of flags which then went steeply up a very slippery slope. The lava was like silt mud on top of a layer of ice. I took a video of Jana and Carolin further up the slope ahead of us. They were helping Karen and Tjeerd and all of them were slipping and sliding.
View from the top at Saunders Island - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
We saw Gentoo penguins further up on the slopes so we saw three different species of penguins on this one island. There were quite a few penguin highways in the ice and snow and we saw penguins eating the snow. Some of them were moulting so they can't get into the sea to feed or drink so they eat snow for water. Some were even snatching the snowflakes coming down.
Day 13: Landing at Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands) - Part 1
Getting back down the hill wasn't as hard as we thought but we had to dig the sides of our boots in to maintain our grip. Of course, we could have easily slid down on our asses but penguin poop not only stinks but the stench lingers on your clothes even after you've washed them! So we were content to take it slowly and upright!
We had 2 hours and 15 minutes on the island and then it was time to get back into the zodiac for the return trip. That was even more dramatic. We took videos of people getting into the zodiacs before us.
One passenger went head first into the lava beach when one of his feet got stuck as he was running towards the zodiac. Ali immediately ran over to him and helped him up but it looked as though he was in shock! We also saw Christine making three attempts to get into the zodiac head first. She kept bouncing back off, a bit like Zebedee - boing, boing!! She made it on her third attempt!! Original, but at least she was in!
The crew were fighting against waves that were a lot higher now. Tobias went underwater several times and Abs hands were so cold they were swollen and red but they still kept going, making sure that everyone could get back into the zodiacs.
We managed to get into our zodiac without getting wet and our driver was Catherine who is one of the diving leaders. She tried to start the boat but pulled the starter cord so hard she fell over diving gear on the floor. She got back up really fast and shouted "Is it on?" Yes! So we set off and got back on board the Plancius at 09-00 without a problem.
Yeeha! We made it! I doubt that anyone else has had their 50th birthday down here! When we got back to our cabin Victor had put up balloons and a Happy Birthday sign!
Day 13: Landing at Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands) - Part 2
We got out of our clothes and then went for breakfast. (Had we done all that before breakfast?!?) Jim sat with us and told us that all the crew had got back on board safely and there were no injuries. He also told us that he'd been given a job by the South Georgia Heritage Trust. A research project on the Chinstrap and Macaroni penguins was being carried out on Saunders Island using cameras that took one photo per day but the batteries and SD chips needed changing. Jim managed to get them all changed following the hastily scribbled out instructions he'd been given in case we managed to land.
The DUI divers made history as the first commercial group who dived here! Wow! Unfortunately they couldn't see much as their visibility had been greatly reduced by the stormy seas. A lot of them came on land aswell because that was where all the action was!
We set sail towards Candlemass Island which would take us four hours and where a second landing was planned. Lunch was vegetable noodle soup and Nasi Goreng (Indonesian rice dish) followed by chocolate ice cream for dessert. I got an extra which was pistachio.
When we arrived at Candlemass Island Jim and Christian went out in a zodiac to scout for a possible landing. We could already see from on board the ship that it wasn't looking good. They got back and said it wasn't possible because the waves were over 2 metres high and it would be too dangerous.
We weren't too unhappy because we were feeling very tired and the crew must have been exhausted after the mornings effort. So we set sail at 4pm for the South Orkney Islands and went to an interesting lecture on volcanoes by Tobias.
Kirsten went for a lie down and then Fin whales were spotted. I went out on deck and saw at least 6 of them in the distance. There were also two Humpback whales on the other side of the ship and Ali said that there was a Sperm whale amongst them which I didn't see. Neither did I see Kirsten who I thought would be out on deck somewhere with the cameras. No - she was still in bed and said there hadn't been any announcements in the cabin! Oh well, I guess we can't get photos of everything!
At 6-30pm we toasted ourselves with champagne for a superb landing. The crew had all done a superb job and made an unbelievable effort to get us on land. Jim showed time lapse photos from the SD chips from 2014 and said he'd had an email thanking him profusely (and profanely) for changing the chips and batteries! He also got the figures for the number of people who've been to the islands since 2000 and we were probably the largest group ever to land at once! Lots of the bridge crew and staff also went on land as none of them have ever been here before! The Captain had to stay on the bridge because he has the overall responsibility for the ship and all crew and passengers. If we run into trouble here there is no one nearby to help!
For Kirsten's birthday meal we had Mackerel for starters and Kirsten chose the pork and polenta with paprika sauce. I had the Guinea Fowl which tasted decidedly like chicken! I knew what was coming next but it was a big surprise for Kirsten and everyone else.
Thijs dimmed the lights in the restaurant and asked Kirsten, Marian and Sonia to come to the front. All three had birthdays today!! Marian was 49 and Sonia 66. So Kirsten was still the only one to have a 50th! Together they celebrated 165 years!
They were presented with a birthday cake and we sang Happy Birthday to them. Then more cakes were brought out because everyone would get a piece of birthday cake for dessert today! The three birthday girls went around serving everyone their piece. I got my piece last! And only one!
Day 13: Recap and birthday cake after dinner.
Kirsten was really tired so she went to bed. I stayed up to write the diary for over an hour because we had done so much. It had been a fantastic day! Happy Birthday Kirsten!
