Point Wild, Elephant Island

Arrived at Elephant Island, off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula this morning. Visited Point Wild, where Shackleton's men spent 4 months of an Antarctic winter on a pebble beach, sheltering under an upturned boat,  waiting for him to come back and pick them up after he sailed for South Georgia in the 22ft open boat the James Caird. In the afternoon we went down the east coast of Elephant Island and round to Cape Lookout on the SW tip. There we saw loads of Macaroni and Chinstrap penguins, and a Leopard Seal. The Leopard Seal has an evil grin, like a giant reptile or a Bond villain! But today's blip has to be Point Wild. It has changed since Shackleton's day: the glacier has retreated, the pebble beach has gone and there are just rocks now, but it is a desolate place.  The memorial that you can just see is not to Shackleton nor is it Wild, it's to captain Pardo of the "Yelcho", the Chilean government vessel that Shackleton finally managed to get to rescue the 22 men.