Panoramas St. Andrews Bay

St. Andrews Bay is one of tho­se gre­at, ama­zing places on Earth, but as it is so often, the grea­test places are not always the easie­st ones to get to. The wide bay does not offer much shel­ter against the ever-pre­sent swell of the Sou­thern Oce­an, and hea­vy surf is accor­din­gly quite nor­mal on the wide beach. You can try to sneak in behind some rocks on the nor­t­hern end – good luck. You have to get the­re on a good day, other­wi­se it will not be pos­si­ble to get ashore.

Once the­re, you will be wel­co­med by Ele­phant seals and Fur seals in lar­ge num­bers. King pen­gu­ins are ever­y­whe­re. The easie­st way to get away from the landing site is usual­ly a bit inland, whe­re the den­si­ty of wild­life is most­ly a bit lower than next to the coast. On your way to the colo­ny, you will have to cross a gla­cial stream, which is some­ti­mes quite easy, at other times more chal­len­ing, depen­ding on the amount of water at the time you are the­re. Even if you deci­de not to cross: the wild­life is stun­ning. But you have to cross to get to the morai­ne hills, becau­se it is from the­re that you have the view over the main colo­ny of King pen­gu­ins. And this view is tru­ly breath­ta­king, as the colo­ny is the lar­gest of its kind in South Geor­gia, and this means quite some­thing. We are tal­king about hundreds of thou­sands of Kings. Just sit on tho­se hills, jaws drop­ped, enjoy the spec­ta­cle and hope the wea­ther remains sta­ble. Lucky ones who have been the­re and seen it.

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