King George Island is home to 8 national winter research stations on its small, ice-free shore. It is like a miniature embassy row, with the Russians, Chileans, Chinese, Uruguayans, South Koreans, Argentines, Brazilians, and Poles all connected by about 20 km of roads. Four other countries have summer stations on King George, so the island was bustling.
We visited the 25-person Russian station at Bellinghausen, where the base commander Igor met us on the black sandy beach. The Chilean base was just next door, and while we were there, a van from South Korea drove up.
We toured the recreation facility at Bellinghausen and walked up a hill to see their new Russian Orthodox Church. It was built in Siberia and shipped to the Antarctic. They were quite proud of the church, and it was perched high on a hill, well anchored from the fierce winds. They also stamped our passports at the Bellinghausen Station, and I will cherish that penguin picture in my passport in the years to come.
Before returning to the ship, we walked the short distance to the Chilean souvenir shop, where we even saw a small Chilean child who was living on the island with his family. By 11:00 we were all munching on Hanseatic hot dogs--a special treat to celebrate our last landing in the Antarctic!
