ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

Day 1-2: Buenos Aires, Argentina Private transfer to your hotel. You will stay 2 nights here based on accommodation and breakfast. Buenos Aires, the ‘Paris of South America’, is a cosmopolitan city strongly influenced by European culture, while preserving its South American identity.

Day 3: Flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Argentina (not included). Transfer to the ship. Note: all routes are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice, weather and nature conditions. The expedition leader on board determines the final route. Flexibility is of the utmost importance for expedition cruises. Your journey begins where the world ends: Ushuaia, known as the most southern city in the world, is located at the southernmost tip of South America. In the afternoon we leave this small town on Tierra del Fuego and for the rest of the evening we sail through the picturesque Beagle Channel surrounded by mountains.

Day 4-5: During the next two days on the Drake Passage, you will get a taste of life from the perspective of the polar explorers who first braved these regions: cool salty breezes, undulating seas, perhaps even a common finfish that blows out seawater. After passing the Antarctic convergence, the natural border of Antarctica where the north-flowing cold waters collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas, you are in the circular Antarctic current. Not only does sea life change, but also bird life: a variety of albatrosses and petrels appear. Then, near the South Shetlands Islands, the first icebergs come into view.

Day 6-10: Arrival in Antarctica. Grey peaks of stone with a top of snow, towers of broken blue-white ice and countless different animals in the wild under and above water. First you pass the snow-capped Melchior Islands and the Schollaert Canal, sailing between the Brabant and Anvers islands. Places you can visit here are: Cuverville Island, outstanding between Rongé and the Antarctic Peninsula, houses a huge colony of gentoo penguins as well as breeding pairs of brown hunters. Neko Harbour, an epic landscape of giant glaciers and endless wind-shaped snowy landscape. Possibilities for trips with zodiacs and kayaks that offer you the best possible view of the ice-crusted mountain peaks. Paradise Bay, where you can make a zodiac tour and where you have a good chance to spot humpback whales and minke whales. Pléneau and Petermann Islands, if the ice allows it, you can sail through the Lemaire Canal in search of small noble penguins and blue-eyed cormorants. There is also a good chance to see humpback whales and minke whales, as well as leopard seals. Around the Melchior Islands, amidst a frozen landscape full of icebergs, you can see even more whales, leopard seals and crab seals. The ice conditions on the Drake Passage determine the exact time of departure.

Day 11-12: The return journey is far from lonely. While we are sailing the Drake Passage, you will be greeted again by a quantity of seabirds that remind you of the southern passage, but now appear more familiar to you, and you to them.

Day 13-14: Every adventure, no matter how great, comes to an end. It is now time to disembark in Ushuaia, but memories will accompany you on your return flight to Buenos Aires (not included). You will sleep 1 more night in Buenos Aires.