The Antarctic Peninsula
500 miles south of Cape Horn lies Antarctic, the world’s most isolated and remote wilderness. This seductive continent has lured explorers into its enticing web for centuries. Only a handful of people live here, but whales, seals and penguins thrive here.
A 12-day expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland islands
The Antarctic Peninsula offers dramatic scenery around the clock with snow-covered mountain chains and impressive glaciers. Antarctica is a Mecca for anyone interested in wildlife; 22 million penguins nest here, the pack ice is full of seals and whales thrive in these waters. Many find the Antarctic scenery as rewarding as the wildlife and you will be enchanted by such beautiful waterways as the Neumayer and Lemaire Channel. During the expedition we also visit the South Shetland Islands, an archipelago of some 20 spectacular, ice-covered islands, shaped by fire and ice, is our first port of call. Most of these remote islands, lying 900 km south of Cape Horn, are of volcanic origin and we even visit an active volcano, Deception Island, where we literally sail into the caldera. Here you can walk among penguins on the black lava beach or take a dip in the warm thermal waters.
Join us on an expedition cruise on board our comfortable expedition ships >>
Day 1 Ushuaia, Argentina
Our expedition begins in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Arrive in the afternoon and transfer independently to the hotel. The city is beautifully situated on the northern shores of the Beagle Channel at the foot of the Andes.
Day 2 ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
Today we visit the Tierra del Fuego National Park. In the afternoon we embark our expedition ship and sail out through the Beagle Channel.
Day 3 - 4: Drake Passage
Over the next three days we brave the wellknown Drake Passage. Travelling in the wake
of Drake we are accompanied by hundreds of sea birds such as storm petrels, prions and the magnificent wandering albatross, gracefully following our ship. Our on-board naturalists educate us with slide-illustrated lectures on history and biology of Antarctica. Keep a lookout for the first iceberg!
Day 5 - 9: South Shetlands, Antarctic Peninsula
Our exact route is decided by local weather, ice conditions and wildlife meetings. We use rigid Zodiac landing craft to make at least two excursions a day and take full advantage of the many hours of daylight. Deception Island is an active volcano and
we literally sail into its flooded crater. Nesting penguins are the only spectators as we plunge into the island’s thermal springs. This is also an area of great historical interest and we visit an abandoned whaling station, a mute testimony to the very profitable - but for the whales so disastrous - whaling period in the early 1900’s.
We sail south cruising along the mountainous finger of land, which makes out the Antarctic Peninsula and now we encounter the pack ice edge. Here the ship shows us her absolute superiority. From the navigation bridge, where you are always
welcome, you can watch our experienced Russian officers navigate amongst the ice floes and ice bergs with great skill and precision. Among the places we may visit is Paradise Bay, where glaciers fill the calm waters with a vista of icebergs sculpted by wind and weather.Here you may set foot on the seventh and most isolated continent, Antarctica. At Port Lockroy we find thriving colonies of gentoo penguins and a former British scientific station, which now serves as a fascinating museum.
We attempt a landing at historic Petermann Island and visit the world’s southernmost breeding colony of gentoo penguins. Adélies, south polar´skuas and blue-eyed shags also nest close to the landing site. In Pleaneau Bay, aptly nick named Iceberg graveyard, we Zodiac cruise through a spectacular maze of magnificent ice sculptures. This area is also of substantial historical interest and standing on the bow as the ship threads her way through this pristine region you will certainly feel the same sense of excitement as the early explorers did hundreds of years be fore us. Pending on weather and ice conditions we may land on Paulet Island. Here close to a million Adélie penguins live in and around the remnants of a primitive stone hut in which Captain Larse and 20 men of the Swedish Nordenskiöld expedition over-wintered 1903, after their ship Antarctic had been crushed by ice. We are now in Antarctic Sound, often referred to as Iceberg Alley. Here we witness those huge tabular icebergs, all icebergs’ mothers, drift north from the large ice shelves further south.
Day 10 - 11: Drake’s Passage
We must now leave the Antarctic Continent and return to civilisation, but the expedition is not over yet. Our naturalists help us identify the numerous seabirds that are trailing our ship all the way to legendary Cape Horn, meeting place of two large oceans.
Day 12: Ushuaia
We sail into the Beagle Channel, reach Ushuaia, transfer to the airport for our flight home.
Please, read this itinerary as a guide only; our exact route and program will vary depending on ice and weather conditions - and the wildlife we encounter. Flexibility is the key to a successful expedition.
Camping and kayaking in Antarctica
On some of our departures you can try camping and kayaking in Antarctica. There are few things as fascinating as silently gliding past penguins, seals and ice bergs in your own kayak. When camping ashore you will have a true wilderness experience. Contact us for more information if you are interested in these active adventures in Antarctica.