Zavadovsky Island: a paradise for one and a half million "British subjects"

This amazingly pristine island is located between Antarctica and South America. There is not a single tree or bush, and the volcano towering in the west is the only natural attraction of Zavadovsky Island. In this part of the Atlantic Ocean, icy storm winds are constantly blowing, and 1.5 million Antarctic penguins are one of the few animal species who have liked this inhospitable land area, consisting of lava and ash.

Zavadovsky Island was discovered by Russian travelers, members of the Antarctic expedition of 1819 under the leadership of Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen. He was named after Ivan Zavadovsky, lieutenant and captain of the ship "Vostok".

Together with him, the expedition discovered two neighboring islands, which still bear Russian names: Vysoky and Leskova. All of them belong to the South Sandwich Islands archipelago, which was discovered by the famous James Cook in 1775, but he bypassed the three northern islands. The archipelago was named an Englishman in honor of John Montague, Earl of Sandwich, who was the First Lord of the British Admiralty. By the way, a sandwich “sandwich” was also named after him, which was a favorite snack of the count.

The area of Zavadovsky Island is only 25 km2, it is located in the very north of the archipelago, which today is a colony of Great Britain. In fact, this is the upper part of Mount Kerry volcano, towering above the water. His last eruption was recorded at the beginning of the XIX century, but he regularly releases puffs of smoke, as if reminding everyone to whom the island owes its appearance to the world.

Thanks to the volcano, the island of Zavadovsky has the appearance of pristine land, just rising from the depths of the sea. There are no trees or shrubs, even the grass does not grow here. Only mosses and lichens are able to survive in this harsh land, blown from all sides by icy winds. The high coast of the island is composed of basalts, and the surface itself is covered with gray volcanic ash.

The decoration of this island is the largest colony of Antarctic penguins on the planet. These stunningly hardy birds here are about 1.5 million. Penguins are very comfortable here: there is a lot of food in the surrounding waters, and there is almost no snow on the island itself. The fact is that the heat coming from the bowels of the earth heats the surface of the island, so life at the foot of the volcano does not seem as harsh to the penguins as to their relatives in Antarctica. Such favorable conditions have led to the fact that penguins feel great here, and their colony is thriving. Antarctic fulmar and pinnipeds also live on the island.

Oddly enough, not only biologists and meteorologists visit the island. Tourist boats come here once or twice a year as part of a trip to the South Sandwich Islands. The uninhabited island has been available for tourists since 1982. Of course, there is no infrastructure, hotels or beaches. But travelers are not attracted here. The grandeur of pristine nature, a volcano shrouded in haze, and cute, naive penguins, always good-naturedly meeting people - this is what tourists traveling to Zavadovsky Island want to see.