Antarctica - Voyages of discovery and learning

Your journey begins where the world ends. Ushuaia, Argentina, known as the southernmost city in the world, is located at the southern tip of South America. During the afternoon you will embark in this small Tierra del Fuego city - called "At the End of the World" - and sail the rest of the day along the scenic Beagle Channel flanked by mountains.

Over the next two days in the Drake Passage, you will experience life from the perspective of the polar explorers who first braved these regions: cool salty breezes, rough seas, perhaps even a fin whale snorting sea spray.
Crossing the Antarctic Convergence - the biological boundary of Antarctica formed by the meeting of the warmer waters of the sub-Antarctic seas with the colder Antarctic waters - you will find yourself in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone.
Not only is there a change in marine fauna but also in avifauna. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled albatrosses, checkerboard petrels, storm petrels, blue petrels and Antarctic petrels are some of the bird species that can be seen.

Rocky grey peaks dotted with snow, cracked blue-white ice towers, and completely different wildlife above and below. You will first pass the snow-capped peaks of the Melchior Islands and the Schollaert Channel, sailing between the Brabant Islands and Antwerp.
Some of the sites you can visit include:

Danco Island - Activity here will focus on the Gentoo penguins that nest on the island, as well as the Weddell and crabeater seals that can be found in the surrounding area.

Neko Port - An epic landscape of gigantic glaciers and endless snow carved by the wind, Port Neko offers opportunities for a Zodiac cruise and a landing that will give you a close-up view of the surrounding alpine peaks.

Paradise Bay - It is possible to take a Zodiac cruise on this expanse of water filled with icebergs where there is a good chance of seeing humpback and Minke whales.

Port Lockroy - After sailing through the Neumayer Channel you may be able to visit the former British base - now a museum and post office - at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. Activities are also possible at neighbouring Jougla Point, where you'll find Gentoo penguins and blue-eyed cormorants.

The volcanic South Shetland Islands are windswept and usually shrouded in mist, but they offer subtle pleasures nonetheless. A wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and fauna (Gentoo penguins, chinstraps and giant South Shetland petrels) inhabit the islands.
At Deception Island the ship passes through Neptune's bellows to enter the flooded caldera of the volcano. Here it is possible to find an abandoned whaling station and thousands of petrels - as well as kittiwakes, common and polar gulls and Antarctic terns can also be seen. A good hike is possible in this desolate volcanic landscape.
Alternatively, activities are possible on neighbouring Medialuna Island. Here chinstrap penguins and Weddell seals are often found near the Argentinean base Cámara. The weather for the Drake Passage will determine the exact time of departure.

The return journey is far from solitary. During the Drake crossing you are once again greeted by the seabirds that accompanied you on the journey south. But this time they will be more familiar to you, and you to them.

Every adventure, no matter how great, must eventually come to an end. It is time to disembark in Ushuaia, but with memories that will accompany you wherever your next adventure takes you.