Combining a visit to Antarctic with the islands synonymous with the continent, including the Falklands and South Georgia, adds an important dimension to these cruises. The Falkland Islands are home to an astonishing and very tame diversity of wildlife and a plethora of flowering plants during the summer. From an old settlement and the Westerly point you will see huge numbers of bird and penguin colonies and meet some of the hardy locals who live here, before a visit to Port Stanley with its historic past and more recent military history.
South Georgia on the other hand is altogether different and harsher, with 7000ft towering mountains, glaciers, grassy areas and beaches. Here is land, hundreds of miles from the next landfall, and home to King and Gentoo Penguins, Wandering Albatrosses, beaches crowded with elephant seals and Macaroni penguins. Visit an old whaling Station, and Ernest Shackleton's grave.
Day-to-day itinerary (weather dependent):
Day 1 - Arrive in the southerly Argentine city of Ushuaia, where you will overnight
(*Please note the frist expedition of the year departs from Puerto Madryn)
Day 2 - Optional morning visit to the nearby National Park followed by a traditional asado lunch. Embarkation on boat mid-afternoon
Day 3 - At sea sailing towards The Falklands
Day 4&5 - Exploration of The Falkland Islands, both the great concentrations of wildlife and the charming historic port of Stanley
Day 6&7 - At sea sailing for South Georgia
Day 8-11 - Exploration of South Georgia and its astonishing concentration of wildlife and awe-inspiring scenery
Day 12&13 - At sea sailing for Antarctica
Day 14-17 - Exploration of the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula. Visiting Shackleton's Elephant Island, the Antarctic sound or 'Iceberg Alley' before heading onto Paradise Bay, the Neumayer and Lemaire Channels, Port Lockroy and the sunken caldera of Deception Island
Day 18&19 - Navigation of the Drake Passage back to Ushuaia
Day 20 - Arrive back in Ushuaia and disembark
Please call for specific departure dates for both the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons.
