November and December 2017
Well this is massively overdue! I was back on South Georgia at the end of 2017 for the fourth and final phase of the rat eradication project organised by the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT). You may have heard about it recently in various press outlets. Phase Four was to set out monitoring devices at the start of the season, leave them long enough to do the job and then collect and see if there was any sign of rodents.
If you didn’t see anything about the project in the news recently then I’m glad to report the news is good! Phase Four wrapped up with the collection of the monitoring devices by early April and no signs of rats were found. While I was only on the project for two months (some of the guys did all 6 months of Phase Four, nevermind all the people involved Phases One, Two and Three in previous years). I’m really proud to have been involved in such a worthwhile project.
As things stand I have no South Georgia trips on the horizon, I may even have had my fill of the place! It will always hold a special place in my heart though. The idea of never going back is a sad one, but I’m sure that’s not the case and I’ll find myself back there at some point.
Yes, I did say I was in Iceland earlier and it wasn’t a typo. I’m currently on my way to Greenland for a three week expedition. I won’t say much just now but I will say that it involves boating, sea kayaking and a TV crew. I promise to have a blog about it before the end of June! I should probably do one to explain how much fun I had in Scotland this winter – my fist one since 2009!