29. South Georgia Island

My interest with the South Pole began when I read first read about Sir Ernest Shackleton. At the same time, I developed this minor fascination with South Georgia Island, a waypoint for most of the Antarctic explorers.

South Georgia is in the upper right corner of this map, and PBS has published a short history of the island. There's even an Imax movie about South Georgia, called Survival Island, which by some coincidence was released on video this week. I saw this film in the theatre and it really shows South Georgia's cold, isolated, sparse beauty (which is what attracts me to it).

If you've ever read about Shackleton or Amundsen, you'll also be interested in the shots of Grytviken, the abandoned whaling station that was once a required stop for explorers bound for the southern continent.