Picturing the end of the world
Lying face-down in penguin poo during a blizzard, surrounded by the overwhelming sight, smell and sound of 80,000 pairs of king penguins and their chicks, sleet and snow momentarily gives way to sunlight and Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, is dramatically and ecstatically lit.
Of course, I have the wrong lens on my camera. Which was on the wrong setting to boot. But no matter how low your ISO, a picture can’t capture the vastness of this moment since it can’t possibly articulate the otherworldly golden-rose hues that exploded from the horizon as we arrived at Gold Harbour.
After seven days travelling, I still can’t shake the feeling that I’m having an out of body experience, looking at ever-more spectacular scenes through a hyper-reality headset. It’s late-November – breeding season – and on the black-sand beach of Gold Harbour’s sweeping amphitheatre one of nature’s greatest spectacles is taking place.
