Antarctica - Elephant Island - Wedell Sea - Polar Circle

Your journey begins where the world ends. Ushuaia, Argentina, reputed to be the southernmost city on the planet, is located at the southern tip of South America. During the afternoon, you will embark in this small Tierra del Fuego resort town, nicknamed "The End of the World", and cruise the mountain-fringed Beagle Channel for the rest of the afternoon.

Over the next two days in the Drake Passage, you'll enjoy some of the same experiences as the great polar explorers who first mapped these regions: cool salty breezes, rolling seas, perhaps even a fin whale blowing sea foam. After passing the Antarctic Convergence - Antarctica's natural boundary, formed when cold waters flowing northward collide with warmer sub-Antarctic seas - you find yourself in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone.
Not only marine life is changing, but also avian life. Wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape doves, southern fulmars, Wilson's petrels, blue petrels and Antarctic petrels are some of the birds you will see.

We will arrive early at the famous Point Wild on Elephant Island, where Shackleton's crew made their first landing after the loss of their ship, the Endurance. This inhospitable spit of land is a favourite with our guests, and conditions permitting, we will offer activities around the point before departing for the Weddell Sea.

Today you will enter the wonderful Weddell Sea, a relatively unvisited area where we hope to do activities in Erebus and the Gulf of Terror. We will also be able to visit places such as Peak Island and Devil's Island, which boast breathtaking scenery, as well as the ice floe for which the Weddell Sea is famous.

As we continue to explore the Erebus area and the Gulf of Terror, we look for new opportunities for activities. You can also visit Vega Island, experiencing the wilderness of Antarctica in its most remote places.

We now sail along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, entering the Orleans Strait. Here we expect to see humpback whales and killer whales as we sail into Mikklesen Harbour for our afternoon activities.

Passing the Lemaire Channel, we arrive at the Port Charcot area, where there is a cairn that was erected by the French Antarctic Expedition of 1903 - 05. In the afternoon, we head to Petermann Island to see a variety of birds. You will also enjoy zodiac rides among the icebergs which are very popular for leopard seals and crabeater seals. Here you can also encounter minke whales, humpback whales and gentoo penguins.

Today we will arrive at Crystal Sound and see the beautiful ice formations and wildlife of the area before disembarking at Detaille Island. This remote island was once home to a British research station which is now a historical monument.

Next is the Yalour Islands, a small archipelago of mostly isolated rocks and a main island that offers a rewarding landing. Home to Adélie penguins and some of the world's southernmost gentoos, Yalour also has small patches of bearded lichens and crustaceans, such as xanthoria, buellia, caloplaca and usnea. Extensive moss beds and some Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica) can also be seen.

We bid farewell to Antarctica in the Melchior Islands for our last activities before heading to the Drake Passage.

Your return journey is far from lonely. During the Drake's crossing, you again encounter the wide variety of seabirds you met on your passage south, but now they are a little more familiar to you, and you to them.