Elephant Island

The highlight of this day at sea was arrival at Elephant Island, where Shackleton's men stayed for 5 months while he sailed to South Georgia for assistance. (If you haven't read a good book about Shackleton's journey before the trip, such as Endurance, you might have realized by now that it's a must. Not only is it an incredible story, but will enhance your appreciation for so many of these stops.) The swells were too large for us to do a landing on the island, so the captain did a slow cruise for us along its shoreline and we all gathered on the deck for festivities. Expedition Leader Dave did readings about Shackleton and his men while we looked out on the beach where they sheltered for so long. We celebrated back in the lounge with happy hour drinks cooled with glacier ice collected by one of the staff during our stop. We contemplated what ancient/alien viruses might be living in the ice but drank them down just the same.