After quite a lovely crossing east from the Falkland Islands, guests aboard National Geographic Explorer first spotted the high mountains of South Georgia a few hours before lunch. Unmistakably, the sheer peaks of the island’s remote wilderness greeted our guests as we edged ever closer, slowed only by the visitation of southern right whales just off our bow. The afternoon fulfilled what everyone had come to see–a beach full of 20,000 penguins, more fur seals than any individual could count, and a strewn line of whale bones which spoke to the history of the industry that once visited this remote location.